Britebiz, Glofox, LogoGrab and KONG Digital join Deposify, Pulsate and Axonista on the Bank’s startlab NYC programme
Bank of Ireland is delighted announce that BriteBiz, Glofox, LogoGrab and KONG Digital will join Deposify, Pulsate and Axonista on the Bank’s startlab NYC programme which will see them gain access to free incubation space in New York City. The incubation space supports Bank of Ireland startup customers as they seek to grow their business and enter the US market and is the first offering of its kind from an Irish bank outside of Ireland.
The high potential startups selected to partake in Bank of Ireland startlab NYC have secured a number of high profile deals and funding rounds in the past 12 months, making them the perfect candidates to join the programme:
- Axonista was selected for €1.7m grant from Phase 2 of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Innovation in SMEs programme;
- Deposify has secured a banking partnership with People’s United Bank and raised €1.1m in funding;
- GloFox raised €2 million in a funding round with investors that include Enterprise Ireland;
- Pulsate recently announced $1.5 million in funding, with payments firm PayPal backing the round;
- BriteBiz is currently based in the Bank of Ireland startlab in Galway has a pipeline of key clients in the USA and is looking to expand this further over the coming year;
- LogoGrab were awarded the Irish Software Association Emerging Company of the Year Award and has accumulated sales of €1m since it formally launched in March 2016;
- KONG Digital has secured a number of large clients in the USA such as Universal Music whom they help manage over 400 artists social media accounts.
Speaking at the announcement, Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor said, "
I am delighted to be here today to announce the next cohort of Irish startups heading to New York with Bank of Ireland to join the startlab incubator programme. Having a free, professional, and highly sought after location to work from, in a city of real growth potential, is an invaluable support for entrepreneurs."
She added, "
The experienced team in Bank of Ireland, along with state bodies such as Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in New York, will give these seven companies partaking in startlab NYC all the support they need to scale their business, seek investment and – ultimately – grow and succeed Stateside. I wish them all the best of luck."
In addition to working and meeting space in this central New York location, the teams will receive expert mentoring from Bank of Ireland’s dedicated innovation and corporate banking teams in both Ireland and the US to help them develop, grow and scale their business. Bank of Ireland will work closely with the selected teams to help them get on their feet when they arrive, facilitating introductions to venture capitalists, state agencies and relevant intermediaries based in the city.
Speaking at today’s announcement, Conor McLoughlin, CEO, GloFox said, “
Startlab New York gives us the perfect landing pad for the US right in the heart of its most vibrant city. It allows us access to the strong extended BOI business network as well as avoiding any costly long term office space commitments before we acquire that local knowledge. This means we can just focus on building our US presence. Glofox has seen rapid growth in the US over the past 12 months now accounting for over 50% of all new clients. The US accounts for 50% of the global software market, 40% of the global fitness market and given that it is a higher converting lower cost acquisition channel than any other territory it represents our primary market.”
Tom Hayes, CEO, Corporate Banking at Bank of Ireland commented on the announcement, “
Today’s announcement further strengthens the Bank’s offering to the Irish technology sector. We are approving credit for technology sector companies on a daily basis. In January 2017 alone our approvals ranged from €300k for a healthcare software company to €3.1 million for an enterprise software company. On the equity side, Bank of Ireland has committed over €150m of own capital to venture capital funds such as Kernel Capital and Delta Partners. These funds have helped companies to scale their businesses.”
The decision to open startlab NYC was taken in response to demand from Bank of Ireland business customers and represents the next step in the bank’s aim to foster entrepreneurship. The incubator, specifically for scaling startups, is an extension of existing successful Bank of Ireland facilities already available in several locations in Dublin, and in Cork, Limerick and Galway, such as Workbench and startlab.
