The Dublin BIC team of consultants is made up of skilled and experienced business people, from a variety of backgrounds. All of them have successful careers as entrepreneurs, many internationally, and they are willing to share their expertise and knowledge with today’s emerging companies.

Dublin BIC has considerable expertise in delivering innovative and creative solutions to the issues that early-stage companies face and is not afraid to challenge limiting or unrealistic beliefs to benefit the client’s business. The Dublin BIC carefully matches each new company to their requirements and objectives with the most suited advisor.

A successful support of start-ups in the Dublin BIC depends on the following factors:

• BIC team’s rich domain and technical knowledge, deep involvement in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and significant real-world experience
• Unmatched community of entrepreneurs, investors, advisors and an industry built up over 30 years
• Specific knowledge of, and strong links to, European markets and EU funding instruments
• Long-term partner to Enterprise Ireland in delivering start-up programmes and accelerators
• Expertise in hosting entrepreneurial ecosystem events, including FutureScope and Funding & Scaling.

• Guinness Enterprise Centre (GEC)

The GEC (Guinness Enterprise Centre) is a community of entrepreneurs working in a dynamic environment, specifically geared towards supporting ambitious, growth-orientated companies. The GEC offers private, shared and co-working office space, meeting rooms and conference facilities, 24/7 access and an on-site café.

The 400+ entrepreneurs based in the GEC are supported by a start-up ecosystem that provides access to networking events, seminars, workshops and social events.

CoWork@GEC offers all the advantages of working in a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, but with the flexibility and affordability of co-working. Co-workers in the GEC have access to the services and facilities of a modern office, as well as a full calendar of networking events, seminars, workshops and social events.

As well as the founders and employees of over 150 companies located in the GEC, memebers have the opportunity to work alongside, and network with start-up business advisors, investors and industry representatives. They have have access to programmes and supports, as well as knowledge, gathered to help entrepreneurs develop their business)

• Co-Working Hub in Dublin's City Centre

Space@DublinBIC is the newest, most affordable and flexible start-up and co-working community in Dublin’s city centre! It is managed by Dublin BIC, in line with its mission to empower entrepreneurs to start and scale.

The start-up and co-working hub was designed as an affordable office solution for entrepreneurs, freelancers and start-ups in a city of soaring office prices, providing a location from which they can hire talent, scale and access customers easily.

Situated on the first and second floors of 61 Dawson Street, Space@DublinBIC has the capacity for 200+ people. The co-working space is large, bright and buzzy and private office space is just one minute’s walk from Grafton Street and Trinity College, with access to 1GB WIFI, on-site café, storage facilities and meeting rooms.

Space@DublinBIC offers to clients a dedicated desk for €375 per month or a hotdesk for €200 per month. A five-day hotdesk pass can be secured for €59. Space also accommodates those outside Dublin with flexible packages.

• FutureScope

FutureScope is an annual event run by Dublin BIC, that brings together leaders from the technology ecosystem to share perspectives on emerging technologies and how they shape our future world, providing crucial insights into developing businesses, innovators and investors. The event offers a platform to explore collaboration, innovation and new business opportunities within the broader technology ecosystem.

• Funding & Scaling Series

Pitching to business angels, meeting with seed fund managers, networking with venture capitalists, nurturing corporate partnerships or applying for state grant can seriously consume time and energy. Being prepared and equipped with the right knowledge is essential and the Dublin BIC Funding & Scaling Series helps you understand what you need to know.

• HBAN – Halo Business Angel Network

HBAN is the largest business angel network in Ireland, with ten different angel groups and syndicates, in operation both across Ireland and overseas, investing directly into Irish companies. Business angel activity in Ireland grew 25% year-on-year in 2016, with €13.6m in direct angel investment into 50 companies.

Over 210 start-ups have received funding from angel investors in the past five years, with a total of €138m invested. Benefits of angel investment over other types are well recognised. Investors bring “Smart Money” - experience, knowledge, contacts, time and can be extremely valuable resources to any start-up team.

• Dublin BIC Venture Funding

Dublin BIC is deeply immersed in the Irish tech start-up ecosystem and therefore uniquely positioned to identify high potential companies for early-stage investment.

AIB Seed Capital Fund: Dublin BIC-managed AIB Seed Capital Fund has, to date, invested €13m in 40 companies through 78 investment rounds. Portfolio companies have attracted an additional €50.5m in co-investments. With investment from AIB Bank and Enterprise Ireland, the AIB Seed Capital Fund was established in 2007. Ten years on, a significant number of companies in the Fund portfolio are now well-established and growing into significant international players within their industry sectors.

New Venture Fund in 2018: The new Dublin BIC fund will be launched in 2018. It presents an opportunity for investors to capitalise on Dublin BIC’s successful track record, of selecting and investing in early stage companies, which represent some of the best technology investment propositions in Ireland.

Dublin Business Innovation Centre (Dublin BIC) empowers entrepreneurs to start and scale their business by providing a comprehensive range of programmes specifically designed to advance the ambitions of early-stage companies. Dublin BIC is associated with five universities, Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, UCD Smurfit School of Business, BCFE Ballyfermot College of Further Education and Dublin Institute of Technology.

Dublin BIC provides programmes across four core areas of expertise (Fig. 1):

• Investor-Ready Preparation – 85% of Dublin BIC investor-ready start-ups receive funding
• Access to Finance – 350 start-ups have received funding through Dublin BIC
• Incubation Space – managing two of Ireland’s leading start-up and co-working hubs
• Community & Collaboration – knowledge-sharing, business opportunities and networking

IMAGEN

Figure 1: Supporting activities of Dublin BIC (Source: http://www.dublinbic.ie/about-us)

• Investor-Ready Programme

The Dublin BIC Investor-Ready Programme is a challenging yet rewarding experience for those that are selected to participate. Each company is assigned a dedicated Dublin BIC investment preparation specialist, who has deep domain and ecosystem knowledge and influence.

The programme involves a deep analysis of a product, market opportunity, competitive positioning and scalability. This process often leads to fundamental changes in the proposition, the team, objectives and sometimes a product or a service. Participants undergo a strategic review by a panel of independent industry experts and investors, where they pitch for an investment.

Companies which are successful at the strategic review stage of the programme will be certified Dublin BIC Investor-Ready! - walking away with a recognised benchmark, a validated business plan, a robust financial model and a compelling investor pitch deck.

• Dublin BIC Smart Start

Dublin BIC Smart Start offers guidance to early-stage and developing companies, meeting the requirements of entrepreneurs, whether they are at a concept stage, ideation or a development stage. Dublin BIC Smart Start delivers a range of accelerators, workshops and courses:

ES2: Enterprise Start 2 (ES2) is a series of development workshops delivered by Dublin BIC on behalf of Enterprise Ireland. ES2 challenges and validates business ideas and aims to help entrepreneurs clarify their business proposition with focus on a value proposition, market opportunity, market analysis and potential sales.

Sprint: Sprint, an Enterprise Ireland accelerator delivered by Dublin BIC, is designed to prepare pre-investment start-ups for the process of becoming investor-ready. Participants acquire an understanding of how to identify and segment customers, develop a compelling customer value proposition, a deep understanding of the sales process and the importance of customer validation.

The Innovate Programme: Innovate is an accelerator delivered by Dublin BIC on behalf of Enterprise Ireland. The accelerator was specifically designed for female-led start-ups, where the aim is to help participants get investor-ready within 12 weeks. Successful applicants will have shown the potential to develop a product for sale on international markets, as well as to create ten jobs and €1m in sales within 3-4 years of starting up.

Campus Smart Start: Dublin BIC works closely with Trinity College Dublin to support the development of start-ups and spinouts on campus. Dublin BIC supports the creation of new companies and high potential start-ups from within Trinity’s research community. Campus Smart Start works alongside Trinity’s other entrepreneurship functions, including the Innovation Academy, Launchbox and LaunchPad.