The fifth annual ITLG- Irish TimesInnovation Awards have been expanded this year to cover five categories, with a shortlist of 20 companies travelling to the finals which will be held in Silicon Valley next month. The 20 companies were selected by the ITLG following an extensive review of approximately 100 companies at a series of pitch sessions at DCU and University of Ulster Belfast last October and November.
Biotech/Cleantech
AER Sustainable Energy (aer.ie)
AER is based in Dublin and provides a low-cost, scalable process to extract useful products from algae. AER targets two separate end-user markets; nutritional products and biofuels.
Elimbac (Elimbac.eu)
Elimbac manufactures low carbon disinfection systems. Working closely with Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and the UK Environment Agency, CMV has installed an Elimbac disinfection system at a waste water treatment plant in Llanfechell, north Wales, for the disinfection of municipal wastewater.
Radisens Diagnostics (radisens.com)
Radisens Diagnostics has developed a platform for portable blood testing, providing significant cost savings for managed care organisations and delivering economies of scale for small to medium physician office labs. It is focused on the long-term patient management of chronic diseases, including renal, chronic kidney, diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.
RedT (poweringnow.com)
RedT's patented Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB) system stores and generates energy efficiently and inexpensively and addresses medium to large applications for renewable energy, distributed power generation and stand-alone installations.
It can provide a solution to the increasing problem of the intermittent nature of renewable power sources, greatly enhancing wind and solar power plant productivity
Entertainment and gaming
ClearTone Technologies (ctone.eu)
ClearTone has developed software and low power digital signal processing technologies for both the medical and consumer markets to profile people's hearing ability and to enable them to experience the full spectrum of sounds they enjoyed when they were young adults.
Digital Jet (digitaljet.ie)
Digitaljet provides a solution designed to meet the needs of and engage a generation of users who would otherwise go to illegal sources, and will harness the power of community and file-sharing, engage users and deliver a sustainable business model that will drive more ARPU (average revenue per user) and deliver value back to the legitimate industry.
OmniMotion Technology (omnimotec.com)
OmniMotion is a digital services company specialising in motion control and other "senses". From more immersive computer games and simulations to interactive point of sale and event solutions, its patented technology enhances the user interface using standard webcams.
VenueOne (venueone.com)
VenueOne is an online venue, allowing you to watch exclusive live and recorded gigs while connecting with friends and making new ones.
VenueOne allows you to host your own parties, crash someone else's and attend regular themed parties where you can meet your favourite artists and win prizes.
Hardware/ Semiconductor
Ikon Semiconductor (ikonsemi.com)
Ikon Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company focused on developing innovative, highly integrated and efficient solutions for the rapidly growing LED lighting industry.
Rapt Touch Limited (rapttouch.com)
Rapt is a provider of multi-touch systems, and a critical innovation in the changing landscape of user interfaces.
Rapt Technology enables customers to offer the most robust and cost effective multi-touch products out there.
Smyth Research (smyth-research.com)
With laboratories in Northern Ireland and California, Smyth Research engages in research and development related to hearing and sound reproduction in three dimensions. Its work is focused on virtual sound reconstruction of real sound fields. The potential of headphones in this application has never been fully realised.
Mobile/Social Media/Web
Aepona (aepona.com)
Aepona provides a software platform designed to bring mobile intelligence to cloud computing. For more than a decade, Aepona has been supplying telco-grade software products to the global communications industry.
Phlok (phlok.me)
Phlok is a mobile web application that allows users to check in to locations that they visit using their smartphones. This is achieved either through the use of dedicated applications available on Android, iPhone, WebOS and BlackBerry, or via phlok.com. Users receive vouchers and offers.
RepKnight (repknight.com)
Repknight allows you to track what is being said about your brand online and respond accordingly. That could be anything from adapting your long-term business strategy, to an immediate response to an unhappy client.
Storyful (storyful.com)
Storyful sees an opportunity in the disruption of the global market for news content. Breaking news has gone digital: and comes from the "real time" web: consumers need help sorting the news from the noise. News companies desperately need help engaging with social media users and the useful content they produce.
Betapond (betapond.com)
Betapond develop social media solutions that are primarily based on Facebook but also include integrations with Foursquare, Twitter and other social platforms. They are recognised globally as leading experts in developing marketing products based on Facebook Check ins.
Software and Services/Cloud
DataHug (datahug.com)
DataHug has developed a relationship management platform for businesses. On average, Datahug automatically unlocks and manages 1,100 unique contacts for each employee. It determines the enterprise social graph by analysing email communications to identify contacts, companies and relationship strengths.
Foxframe (foxframe.com)
Foxframe provides access to over one million videos and images. It offers all business no matter what size, the video creation tools to self-produce professional-quality video ads in minutes.
SaveMe4Later (saveme4later.com)
SaveMe4Later is a shopping app, which lets shoppers save adverts from magazines to a personal account on the app and website simultaneously, allowing them to browse and shop at a more convenient time.
Sensormind (sensormind.com)
Sensormind develops products that make life better for the elderly and vulnerable. It builds assistive living technologies that help people remain independent in their own homes while ensuring they are cared for if they need help or assistance.
The awards will be presented as part of the ITLG Innovation Summit taking place in Santa Clara, California, on March 12th and 13th. The Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) is a network of Irish and Irish-American executives in Silicon Valley which provides mentoring and support to start-ups looking to break into the US market.
