21st April 2008

Oisemer named LEAP Emerging

Company of 2008

Limerick Institute of Technology congratulates Michael O’Sullivan, one of the founders of Oisemer for winning first prize in the Enterprise Acceleration Centre Business Plan Competition 2008.

At the Awards Presentation (l-r) Graham Royce, LEAP programme manager;

Michael O'Sullivan, Oisemer; and Dr Maria Hinfelaar, Director of LIT.

Speaking at the Award Ceremony held on Monday 21st April, Dr Maria Hinfelaar, Director of Limerick Institute of Technology said that all the LEAP entrepreneurs are winners, adding that Limerick Institute of Technology is delighted to have played a key role in the development of all ten companies who have just completed the first LEAP programme.

“Enterprise Ireland and Limerick Institute of Technology have invested heavily in infrastructure and support structures to proactively facilitate the development of innovative business start-ups in the Mid West region. The Enterprise Acceleration Centre (EAC) is a business incubation centre serving the Mid-West region of Limerick, Clare and Tipperary located on the Moylish park campus at LIT. Construction was completed in March 2006 at a total cost of €3.1 million. The big project for the EAC in 2007 was the successful delivery of the first LEAP programme following the success of similar programmes like SEEEP in Waterford and the M50 in Dublin over many years. LEAP is a one-year full-time professional business training and enterprise support programme designed to support early stage entrepreneurs to establish growth oriented companies. The three award winners have proved that they stand out, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that all of the companies that have come through the LEAP programme have achieved objectives in their own right and are now trading successfully.”

The Awards presentation was the focal point of the LEAP Showcase Exhibition which took place to mark the end of the first year of the LEAP programme. Three Awards were presented for: Best funding proposal; Innovation; and Best business plan. The judging panel (pictured with Dr Hinfelaar) consisted of Pat Lynch, Compliance & Risks; Neil Mulcahy, MGM; Dominic Moriarity, Tom Crean Centre; Ann Larkin, Head of Small Business, AIB; and David Cronin, Wild Geese Group.

Mr. Graham Royce, LEAP programme manager stated that rapid business incubation programmes such as LEAP in Limerick and Genesis in Cork aimed at nurturing Ireland’s entrepreneurial talent will play an even more important role in ensuring Ireland’s continued economic prosperity and vibrancy. He added that while the LEAP businesses are unique in terms of market focus and technology, the group helped each other immensely during what is a critical phase in their development during their first year.

“The companies who participated in the 2007 programme operate across a range of sectors. Oisemer provides a timetabling service to the education sector, primarily secondary schools. Newly introduced to the market, their solution is being snapped up because it reduces Principal work load and stress. Trecal provide tailor made calibration scheduling software solutions for calibration laboratories and their customers in aviation and other sectors. Their value proposition focuses on optimising communication between client and end users. ARV Excellence delivers a combination of risk management and operational excellence products with a specialty in life science and medical devices. Using their specifically designed validation tools and methodologies, ARV enables customers to easily track process efficiency and reliability and achieve significant cost savings. Another entrepreneur with a specialty in medical devices is Fahy Analytical which solves process problems for manufacturing companies. The company has proven expertise in metal surface technology. Tricylce also has proven expertise in their field. One of Ireland’s first interactive design companies, Tricycle creates unique interactive products and services that are easy to learn, effective to use and enjoyable. They are currently engaged in a very exciting feasibility that will be of interest to marketing and brand managers everywhere. Information Delivery Solutions (IDS) is also focused on developing technological solutions with global appeal. With an initial focus on the tourism sector, IDS’s vision is to bring information effortlessly and as required to the user thereby improving life experiences. Sportalks is also tapping into a growing market – social networking. Now in the final stages of development www.Bench’d.com is a sport social network that lets people bring and share news, stories, pictures and video about sport with others who have the same interests. Moving away from high tech is the hugely innovative Irish Bread Mix Company which produces high quality specialty consumer food products.”