Published on: Tuesday, 01 March 2011

If you are one of the many Irish people keen to start your own business, it’s comforting to know that you do not have to do it alone. The award winning Genesis business incubation programme may be just the life line you need to finally make that jump into the unknown world of business start-ups.

Already in its 14th year and with a string of successes to boast about, to date Genesis has helped over 180 entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. The real measure of its success is that more than 70% of the start-up businesses who emerged from the Genesis programme are still operating today, employing an impressive 1,200 people in the south west of Ireland. The statistics go on; in excess of 50% of the businesses are trading internationally, while 40 businesses have been identified as “High Potential Start Ups” by Enterprise Ireland.

Building on from this track record, Genesis is now waiting to meet this year’s entrepreneurs, as the new programme commences in May 2011.

So how does it work? Genesis is a 12-month, full time, rapid incubation programme that provides a comprehensive range of supports to innovative, start-ups to help them establish their business successfully in a planned and focused environment. Participants will be based in the Rubicon Business Centre, located on campus in the Cork Institute of Technology. Over the duration of the programme they will be presented with the practical skills, expertise, contact networks and tools necessary to develop an idea into a solid real business. Along the way, they learn how talk to the market, raise investment capital and launch their product/service in the marketplace.

It is hard to put the programme’s success down to any one thing as Genesis has built its reputation on its comprehensive overall business package, which include; Free office facilities in CIT’s Rubicon Centre, entrepreneurial environment in Ireland’s largest business incubation centre, prime position embedded in the CIT Bishopstown campus offering onsite access to CIT expertise, personal and business development, regular workshops, business mentors, information and access to sources of business funding, network opportunities, expert clinics and ready access to the programme partners including CIT, Enterprise Ireland and the Cork City & County Enterprise Boards.

Putting the Programme into real terms, some well-known businesses that started life in Genesis include Abtran, Amocom, Crest Solutions, Cully & Sully, Commitel, Treemetrics, Weddingdates.ie and Wavebreak Media. The emphasis of Genesis has always been to support high value, knowledge based Irish owned businesses in the region, which have the potential to scale into export markets and create employment in the region. Genesis works with start-ups across a diversity of sectors including energy and environmental, food, photonics, information technology, mechanical engineering, medical devices, biotechnology, media and internationally traded services.

If you want to be a part of this exciting programme, applications for 2011/2012 can be made online by visiting www.gep.ie. The closing date for applications is Friday 8th April 2011. For an informal and confidential discussion of your business idea and eligibility, please contact Denise Kennedy, Programme Manager
T: 021 4928916
E: dkennedy@gep.ie