Business

Entrepreneur accelerator network in Belfast sparks 160 start-ups

Niall Carlin of DoubleJump Studios collects the Entrepreneur of the Moment award at Entrepreneurial Spark’s event from Lynsey Cunningham, entrepreneurial development manager at Ulster Bank
Niall Carlin of DoubleJump Studios collects the Entrepreneur of the Moment award at Entrepreneurial Spark’s event from Lynsey Cunningham, entrepreneurial development manager at Ulster Bank Niall Carlin of DoubleJump Studios collects the Entrepreneur of the Moment award at Entrepreneurial Spark’s event from Lynsey Cunningham, entrepreneurial development manager at Ulster Bank

ENTREPRENEURIAL Spark, the world’s largest free business accelerator network, has provided opportunities to almost 160 early stage and scale-up businesses in Northern Ireland since it started in Belfast a year ago.

And entrepreneurs at its Belfast hub in Lombard Street, which is powered by Ulster Bank, took in more than £550,000 in investment during December alone, the network said.

Part of the world’s largest free business accelerator for early stage and growing ventures, the hub in Belfast has already supported two intakes of entrepreneurs to date, in fields as diverse as technology, food and drink, and product design.

Marking the first anniversary of Entrepreneurial Spark in Belfast, entrepreneurs were provided with awards for their achievements, with £24,000 available in prizes, which were distributed to entrepreneurs in categories rewarding their business acumen, professional development and collaboration with others taking part in the programme.

The main award, Entrepreneur of the Moment, was awarded to Niall Carlin, founder of DoubleJump, alongside a cash prize of £7,000 to help take his business to the next level.

Doublejump Studios is a start-up content creation company based in Belfast that produces short videos to promote businesses and engage audiences.

Niall said: “I joined Entrepreneurial Spark last February and the business has just taken off since. It has grown from just myself to a team of four and we are still growing.

"Entrepreneurial Spark has been fantastic for me. I’ve had mentoring from some of the best people in the industry, I’ve also been coached to have a better mind-set that embraces risk and is able to take business decisions.”

Ulster Bank’s entrepreneur development manager Lynsey Cunningham said: “We produce world-class innovators and ideas in fields such as pharmaceuticals, financial technology, and manufacturing. As such, our entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses deserve a business culture that rewards and celebrates their success, and we are determined to play our part in creating that.

“Part of our ambition is to lower the barriers to entrepreneurship – both real and perceived – and awards like this are a good way of showing that we have ‘skin in the game’ and we mean what we say when it comes to backing new businesses.”

The next intake for the Belfast Entrepreneurial Spark Hub will be announced in February, featuring new and scale-up businesses from the fields including medical technology, entertainment and sport. For more information, visit www.entrepreneurial-spark.com