Published on: Sunday, 03 April 2011

The highly successful Genesis Enterprise Programme, headquartered at CIT’s Rubicon Centre, which helps entrepreneurs develop ideas into real exporting businesses, is now recruiting for its 2011/12 programme, commencing in May of this year. To survive, and win, in today’s global markets, Irish start-ups need to be expert both in the idea or product, and also in designing and executing the business.

Now in its 14th year, Genesis has a record in facilitating 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 in operation five years on, employing well over 1,200 people, in the South West of Ireland. At a time when exports have never been so important to the future of our economy, over 50% of the businesses are selling to customers in international markets. Many have become Enterprise Ireland “High Potential Start-Ups” and raised significant angel and venture capital investment.

High profile businesses that started in Genesis include Abtran, Crest Solutions, Cully & Sully, Comnitel/IBM, Eolas International, Ferfics, Radisen Diagnostics, Treemetrics, Weddingdates.ie, and Wavebreak Media. The emphasis of Genesis has always been to support high value, knowledge based, Irish owned businesses, which have potential to scale into export markets and create employment in Ireland. 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.

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. Over the duration of the programme successful recruits will be presented with the practical skills, expertise, contact networks and tools, necessary to develop an idea into a solid real business.

Participants learn through seminars, workshops, clinics, mentoring and peer learning meetings. Business milestones are set for development and progress is guided by a dedicated Programme Manager, Denise Kennedy, and the experienced Rubicon team and its wider network of experts, as well as programme partners including Cork Institute of Technology, Enterprise Ireland and the Cork City & County Enterprise Boards. Along the way, participants learn how to talk to the market, raise investment capital and launch their product/service. Information and access to sources of business funding is one of the most critical areas.

The work of the Genesis Enterprise Programme and Cork Institute of Technology in developing entrepreneurs in Ireland was recognised in the EU's European Enterprise Awards 2010 in Madrid. Genesis won an award for best practice in enterprise development from a field of over 300 projects across 28 countries.

The Programme is funded by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment under the National Development Plan 2007 – 2013.