Gasta Tech News: NISP CONNECT’s Expanded £25k Awards

NISP CONNECT’s Expanded £25k Awards renews its ‘search for the next big thing’
Following a record performance in 2008, Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP CONNECT) has launched an expanded £25k Awards for this year’s search to uncover ‘the next big thing’ within the local research and business community.
Sponsored by the Bank of Ireland, Invest NI, QUB and the University of Ulster Business School, NISP CONNECT’s £25K Awards have been designed to flush out Northern Ireland’s hottest intellectual property concepts and then transform them into commercialised, market-ready products.
2008 was a breakthrough year for the £25K Awards:
• a record 71 teams entered
• of last year’s top 20 finalists, 18 teams plan to execute their business models by incorporating a company or licensing their technology
• 40 people from the private sector volunteered support to mentor or judge the teams
• two of the biggest names in UK venture capitalism were drafted in along the way to judge the finalists: Donald Fitzmaurice, Partner at ePlanet Ventures which has yielded successful exits with an aggregate market value of over $20 Billion; and Sigurður Sævarsson of Thule Investments.
As a result, additional research centres – Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute; QUESTOR; College for Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise – are getting behind the awards for the first time.
NISP CONNECT Director Steve Orr said it was “hugely encouraging to see all sections of the business and research community working together and demonstrating the practical benefits of being associated with the competition”.
He added: “This competition is all about tooling up young innovators for the marketplace and creating a much-needed pipeline of new start ups. And this year we intend to broaden access to the wider research community and to focus on creating even more business start ups.
“The level of support and advice available through the £25K Award is invaluable for start up companies – more so in the current climate. We want to see ever greater numbers of entrants coming forward and successfully going to market.”
Bernard Rooney, Bank of Ireland Regional Manager, Commercial Banking, said: “Following the success of last year’s £25k Awards, Bank of Ireland are proud to announce that they will be renewing their sponsorship for 2009. Building on our partnership with Northern Ireland Science Park, we are pleased to be associated with ‘the search for the next big thing’ and to assist in any way we can to help bring innovative concepts to the market. This can be through offering financial advice and support along with Bank of Ireland packages such as Essential for Business tailored for start-ups and SME’s.”
Bernard added: “£25k Awards is a prestigious competition, providing an excellent opportunity for individuals or teams to think differently about their innovative project or ideas and provide more value for the end user, with the assistance of mentors. There is a key theme of forward thinking within the awards as it focuses on innovation and its main purpose is to identify, qualify, prepare and present technological projects or services that will lead Northern Ireland down the route of innovation and help create jobs in the future. It will be interesting to see what entries come through this year’s £25k awards in its 9th year of running.”
Concluding, Steve Orr said: “NISP CONNECT is designed to bring people, technology and capital together to drive innovation and create wealth. Participation not only improves end product, but also boosts the confidence and competencies of people behind the product. We are determined to continue to expand and extend the benefits of the £25K Awards to an even wider spectrum of people.”
To enter, participants must submit a two-page concept plan within one of four categories (Hitech; Biotech; CleanTECH; and Digital Media) by the deadline of Friday April 24 2009. Following this, the next phase of the awards will see the field whittled down the best 20 teams who then go forward for the QuickPitch Competition.
Further information on how to register is available online at http://www.nisp.co.uk/25k-award-09-home.aspx and by contacting Roisin Clancy on 028 9073 7800.

Publisher Contact Information:

Northern Ireland Science Park
028 9039 3837
g.mcgimpsey@morrowcommunications.com

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