Wired UK – September 2019

072

BY KATIA MOSKVITCH

DUBLIN

A id :Te ch

Founded by Joseph

Thompson and Niall

Dennehy in 2016, Aid:Tech

is a blockchain-based

startup for transparent

international global aid

budgets and traceable

charitable donations.

Last year, Aid:Tech

formed a partnership

with the Irish Red

Cross to create the

TraceDonate app, that

shows donors what

their donations are

spent on, tracking their

contribution’s history in

detail. aid.technology

Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Slack and Dropbox have all made the

“silicon docks” of Dublin their European headquarters – but the scene isn’t

just tech giants seeking tax breaks: “The startup ecosystem has matured,”

says Niamh Bushnell, former CEO of TechIreland, an advocacy group for

Irish startups, who now works at SoapBox Labs. In 2013, Irish startups

raised €116 million (£103 million); by 2018, this had soared to €523

million. “It still has a long way to go, but Dublin has undoubtedly morphed

from a relatively unremarkable city into a hidden gem with incredible

potential,” says Gonzalo Sanchez from SeedTable, a newsletter for investors.

DUBLIN

SoapBox Labs

Founded by Patricia

Scanlon in 2013,

this startup enables

speech recognition

for children who are

learning to read. An

app assesses a child’s

pronunciation and

fluency automatically,

“listening” to various

spoken tasks, and

providing real-time

feedback. Typically,

speech recognition

systems are aimed

at adults and based

on adult voice data

• but SoapBox Labs
  uses voice data from
  thousands of children.
  The technology can be
  cloud- or edge-based,
  and can be integrated
  into third-party
  apps and products.
  soapboxlabs.com

Urba nVolt

Energy startup

UrbanVolt aims to make

it easy for companies to

transition to energy-

saving light-emitting

diodes (LEDs). Founded

by Declan Barrett,

Graham Deane and

Kevin Maughan in

2014, it provides a

quotation using an

online calculator, and

then arranges the

fitting and maintenance

of the new system.

Switching to LEDs can

help businesses cut

their energy bill by 75

per cent. A portion of

the saving is then paid

to the energy startup

for an upkeep service –

with a guarantee

of maintenance for

the first five years.

urbanvolt.com

WHERE TO STAY

The Schoolhouse,

2-8 Northumberland Rd,

Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

This boutique hotel is

close to many Dublin

attractions, including the

Aviva Stadium.

schoolhousehotel.com

‘DUBLIN HAS UNDOUBTEDLY

MORPHED FROM A RELATIVELY

UNREMARKABLE

CITY INTO A HIDDEN GEM’

GONZALO SANCHEZ,

SEEDTABLE

09-19-SUstartup01.indd 50 04/07/2019 16:26