GMIT Innovation Centre
Spirit of Entrepreneurship 2012
By Judith Feehan
23, Aug 2012 - 22:54

Following on from last year's successful evening please put Monday 17th September at 5.30pm in your diaries to join us in attending our annual Spirit of Entrepreneurship Event at St Mary's Hall, GMIT Castlebar for an evening of enterprise in the west region!

You will benefit from:

• • FREE mentoring with experts (pre-booked) from Enterprise Ireland and the Mayo County Enterprise Board mentoring panel
  • Excellent Networking Opportunities with start-ups and enterprise agencies in the region
  • Opportunity to discuss new ideas with start up technology companies
  • One stop shop to meet all enterprise agencies in Mayo
  • Opportunity to experience, participate and vote on a real life Dragon's Den style event
  • Words of Wisdom from two successful entrepreneurs. o Topics include: 'Growing your business in export markets' & 'Confessions from an online entrepreneur'

The entrepreneurship event begins with FREE (pre-booked) one to one business advice with mentors from Enterprise Ireland and the Mayo County Enterprise Board in the afternoon.

This is then followed with client companies in GMIT's Innovation Centres showcasing their products and services from 5.30pm.

Two high profile guest entrepreneurs namely Terry Clune - Founder of Taxback.com and Michael Dwyer - CEO of Pigsback.com will also be there on the evening to speak about the challenges and opportunities of setting up a business.

Terry Clune founded Taxback.com while at university (Trinity) to help fellow students reclaim overpaid income tax from summer employment abroad. Taxback Group now employs 740 staff, with offices in 22 countries. Terry was awarded the Irish 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the 2010 HSBC European Entrepreneur of the Year Award. His talk will focus on ‘Growing your business in export markets'.

Michael Dwyer has seen pigsback.com grow to over 400,000 active users in Ireland currently employing 45 people in Ireland. Pigsback.com Mega Deals is the leading Irish player in the group deals market. Michael won ‘Marketing Professional of the Year' Award from the Marketing Institute of Ireland in 2003 and the ‘Internet Hero' Award at the 2005 Golden Spider Awards. His talk will focus on ‘The Confessions of an Online Entrepreneur'.

Three companies from the GMIT Innovation Centres will pitch their business ideas for 3 minutes (Dragon's Den Style) to the general public and a selected judging panel. You will have the opportunity to help decide on the winning pitch!

Admission is FREE and booking is advisable for this event as places are limited. Last year's event attracted over 400 people. Please register your attendance either by email iibccastlebar@gmit.ie or telephone 094 90 43198. The 2012 Spirit of Entrepreneurship Event is sponsored by Lionbridge in Ballina.

The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Event is part of Mayo Ideas Week which runs from 17th to 21st Sept.

The IiBC in GMIT Castlebar and Galway have created the following: * 170+ jobs * €50,000,000 funding raised by client companies * 14 HPSU (high potential start-up) companies created * 27 successful spin outs.