Funding of 850,000 euro has been provided to EpiSensor, a Limerick based company that develops wireless sensor technology that reduces energy costs. The syndicated funding has been provided by the Bank of Ireland Start-up and Emerging Sectors Equity Fund, managed by Delta Partners, the AIB Seed Capital Fund, co-managed by Enterprise Equity, Enterprise Ireland and private investors.   The funds will enable EpiSensor to create new jobs and grow international sales. EpiSensor has seen rapid growth since it was founded in 2007. Its wireless technology platform (SiCA) reduces energy usage and costs by providing data from wireless energy sensors that show where energy savings can be made. It has helped organisations in the pharmaceutical, medical devices, food processing and manufacturing industries to significantly reduce energy costs and the technology has proven to pay for itself within the first year. The system is designed and manufactured in Ireland. EpiSensor will use the fund  [...]
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A new cooperative is creating innovative opportunities for small firms exporting from Ireland, by coming together to reduce prohibitive delivery costs. Up to now small firms in Ireland could not negotiate on the cost of exporting because they could not guarantee future large volumes of exported goods. Many smaller retailers and craftspeople were charged exorbitant quotes to ship their products internationally. This left many barriers for retailers who saw the cost of exporting in excess of the cost of the products themselves. Now, Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise Exporters in Ireland have the opportunity to join forces with other similar organisations to collectively reduce the costs of these exports and begin selling abroad at fixed fees at greatly reduced prices. . The Co-Operative aims to achieve this by utilising the group purchasing model to create economies of scale thereby reducing cost of export for the individual member business. The Co-Operative will also bring in ex  [...]
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Tags: Networking, Small Business News, Social Media

We're all aware of how social media is exerting more and more influence on how businesses and brands communicate with customers and consumers alike. One of the most celebrated  business users of social media has been US electronics retailer Best Buy’s Twelpforce, a super-quick response customer service centre done through Twitter. Great ideas like this, though, don’t have to be big businesses or global brands: small Irish businesses can start fully exploiting social media. 

And that’s exactly what’s starting to happen now: small businesses have begun to talk to each other about social media. It started a short while ago when the people behind the small business blog FocuSME Magazine and software developers Tús Nua Designs got together to get #SMEcommunity trendin  [...]
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Tags: Domain Name, GIBO, Online Presence

A new initiative aimed at helping SMEs to establish an online presence has been launched. The Getting Irish Business Online (GIBO) initiative is the first of its kind in Ireland and is backed by several leading Irish online companies, such as Irish Domains and Blueface.

The initiative offers small businesses a chance to get an internet domain, email, web presence and VOIP phone line with local geographic number free for a year. This is a much needed service for start-up businesses who often find it too time consuming or expensive to establish a web presence on their own. According to the CSO nearly one third of businesses do not have a website, and only about a fifth have e-commerce capability.

The GIBO initiative will help small business save costs and start using   [...]
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Tags: Agriculture, Eat Only Irish, Farming, Social Media

Brendan Allen of Castlemine Farm in Roscommon is destined to be Ireland's latest Internet sensation. A few short weeks ago Brendan was a typical, unknown and unsung Irish farmer, but today, thanks to the power of social media, Brendan now has followers in every continent and is at the forefront of promoting Irish produce to the world. It all began with an innocent tweet.......... (more...)  [...]
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Tags: Economy, Small Business News, Small Firms Association

The Small Firms Association released findings from their Winter Jobs Sentiment Survey today. The results show that retaining jobs and creating employment remained a challenge for small firms. SFA Acting Director, Avine McNally stated, ““In the past small firms have demonstrated the capacity to create employment, and they will do so again if they are given the right economic conditions. In 2010 12% of firms increased their employee numbers, however, the final months of the year showed a decline in the numbers at work in small firms and this may have been a reflection of the uncertainty that firms felt about Ireland’s economic future.” There is a reason to remain positive however. While the challenges remain for many firms in regards to retaining and creating employment, 62% of companies indicated that employee numbers will remain at current levels during the next three months, while 14% of respondents expect to increase employee numbers in the next three months,  [...]
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Tags: CSR, Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes. Just take 19 year old chocolatier Louis Barnett for example. At just 12 Louis became the youngest entrepreneur in the UK when he began selling his cakes to local restaurants and delis. He then became the youngest ever supplier to Waitrose at 13 (2006) and Sainsbury’s at 14 (2007) and Selfridges at 15. (more...)  [...]
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Tags: Department of Community, Enterprise Ireland, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Equality for Women Measure, European Social Fund, Going for Growth, Lead Entrepreneurs

Going for Growth is an initative which allows women entrepreneurs to benefit from peer support and the insights and experiences of successful entrepreneurs. Funded and supported by the European Social Fund, Enterprise Ireland and the Equality for Women Measure, Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs. (more...)  [...]
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Tags: Entrepreneur, Internship, NDRC, Small Business News, Start-up ideas

Many people in Ireland who have thought up and designed useful and innovative products but who do not have the means or the knowledge to get their products to market will be interested to hear about NDRC’s (National Digital Research Centre’s) Launch Pad Programme. (more...)  [...]
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Tags: Carrigaline, Co. Cork, Customer Loyalty, Digital Address Code, Entrepreneur, Loyalty Card, Small Business News

A couple of weeks ago we wrote about the new local loyalty card that was introduced in Carrigaline, Co. Cork. The scheme was introduced by leading businesses in the town who realised that they needed to give people a reason to shop in the town instead of going to nearby Cork City. The Carrigaline localrewards.ie town loyalty program uses the internet loyalty platform developed by Cork company myrewardcard.ie. (more...)  [...]
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