VEC signed away valuable property rights in venture

Innovative software products which County Cork VEC invested €216,000 in, but signed away all rights to, were part of a package which subsequently attracted €400,000 in private sector capital.

The Comptroller and Auditor General criticised County Cork VEC for borrowing the venture capital to fund the development work but made no claim to the intellectual property or copyrights involved.

CCVEC lost €161,000 on the investment when the company it partnered with, to develop 3D animation tools for Glanmire Community College, abandoned the work.

The firm, Mobile Voyager Solutions, then wound up and auctioned the software licences and products which had been developed with the assistance of staff and pupils at Glanmire CC.

The chief executive of MVS, Jonathan O’Shea, is also the chief executive, secretary and majority shareholder for Simple Touch Ltd. It bought the animated characters produced as part of the work in Glanmire.

Mr O’Shea said the price Simple Touch paid MVS for the goods was confidential.

In 2006, after the demise of the Glanmire project, Simple Touch attracted €400,000 of fresh investment for its 3D education idea. This came from at least 14 shareholders, who were drawn from North Cork, South Kerry and West Waterford.

This money has been spent and, after a failure to attract additional revenue, Simple Touch has not been actively trading.

Mr O’Shea said the work of Simple Touch was separate to that of MVS, despite a number of the 3D characters launched in Glanmire appearing on Simple Touch marketing material.

He said it had piloted products internally in Texas but none of the characters used in Glanmire were part of its overseas schemes.

In 2005 CCVEC, on behalf of Glanmire CC, borrowed €216,000 for start up costs. MVS was due to repay this in quarterly installments of €17,998.

However, MVS met only three repayments. The project was abandoned, with CCVEC having to pay the outstanding €161,000.

Mr O’Shea has blamed CCVEC for failing to fulfil its part of the arrangement.

Neither CCVEC or Glanmire CC commented on his claims or the outcome of the project.

The deal has been heavily criticised by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Mr O’Shea, originally from Carrignavar, Cork, was based in Pairc na mBlath, Dungarvan but is now living in the Czech Republic.

One of the C&AG’s major concerns was how CCVEC and Glanmire CC put up all of the finance for the project, invested its own teaching resources, involved students in the development process but signed away the copyright for the goods.

This meant it was denied the right to a financial return from the project, despite sourcing all of the venture capital.