Cork Innovates is actively supporting the new regional Dealstart initiative and believes it will add significant value to start ups while leveraging the presence of multinational corporations in the region.

Dealstart is the first element of a novel business support programme, UPSTART which was launched recently by the it@cork European Tech Cluster to support technology start ups in the Munster Region.

“Dealstart will be a catalyst for start ups, providing them with access to management and procurement teams in global organisations, jump starting their engagement with multinationals”, said Siobhan Finn, Cork Innovates. 

The UPSTART programme will comprise a number of support initiatives for fledging businesses to help them grow faster, smarter and more profitably.  Dealstart is the first initiative of the UPSTART programme, and focuses on business development and sales support for young companies. Dealstart brings together large multinational organisations with start up companies to share information, insights and expertise. 

Already an impressive number of global organisations, all of whom have a strong presence in Munster, have pledged their commitment to the programme.  Among others, EMC, IBM, TrendMicro, VoxPro, VMWare, Moog, McAfee, Laya Healthcare and Abtran are all participants in Dealstart.

 “Dealstart is about industry collaboration at its best.  The technology and business community here want to see local start ups succeed globally”, explains Denis Collins, Chairman it@cork European Tech Cluster and Global Executive IBM.

“For start up companies, landing that first deal with a large multinational can be invaluable when it comes to building credibility, having a key reference site, and understanding the complex procurement processes in large organisations and how to best navigate them.   Through UPSTART, the Dealstart initiative will give start ups access to global corporations and fast track them to success in winning deals with large organisations.”

 “This initiative is totally unique in Ireland; it’s a symbiotic partnership between multinationals and start ups that will potentially bring tremendous benefit to both parties.  Large organisations can learn agility, new models of innovation and responsiveness to market trends, while start ups can experience the processes of a large organisation and glean valuable insights into winning that crucial first ‘big name’ commercial engagement”, says Rob O’Donohue, Manager, Project Management at EMC.   

Recruitment of start ups for the Dealstart initiative is underway with a deadline of 10 June 2013.   To participate in the UPSTART programme, applicant companies must be in business no longer than 3 years.  There is a review process in place to ensure that start ups are matched carefully with suitable multinationals, to ensure optimal collaboration.  Interested parties should visit www.itcork.ie and complete the application form online.