LaunchBox is back! This time with TikTok!

Social distancing is gone, Trump is gone, Fast Fashion is gone, and LaunchBox is back! For those of you who don't know what LaunchBox is, have you ever thought of a solution to a problem but you had no idea how to turn that solution into a reality? We select university students with such ideas and bring them into our LaunchBox accelerator programme, sponsored by Bank of Ireland, where we provide aspiring student entrepreneurs with three months of office space, €10,000 in funding, mentorship and masterclasses from some of Ireland's most successful entrepreneurs and specialists in a wide variety of fields.

For the first time in 3 years, LaunchBox is back in person and this year's cohort are reaping the benefits of daily communication and collaboration between teams, face-to-face meetings with the guest speakers/mentors, and the all important social events with their peers, making this summer one to remember for the students involved.

LaunchBox 2022 kicked off on the 1st of June (less than three weeks ago), and we have already had so many amazing founders and speakers come in (or "zoom" in) to Tangent, Trinity's Idea Workspace, to share their knowledge and experience with the next generation of founders in Ireland.

From a founder of a mental health app, to a founder of an equestrian software platform, we are taking the "leave no stone unturned" approach with the industries our student entrepreneurs get to hear from. Here they learn the intricacies of particular industries, the various challenges numerous start-ups faced, and more importantly, how they overcame them. However, the most popular element of these talks with the students, are the tips and tricks learned by the speakers on their journey that they share. These bite-sized tips, such as Luke Rynne Cullen's knowledge of every non-code resource to ever exist, are enabling the teams to build their products much faster than they thought possible.

As mentioned in the headline, for the first time ever, we are TikToking our busy summer. So everyone will get an insight into the key lessons learned, the day-to-day routines/activities, the games played and the social events through our short, funny and sometimes educational video clips. So follow @tcdtangent on TikTok to never miss a moment of this journey. Also, if you want to keep up to date with the incoming guest speakers throughout the programme and listen to brief insights from their talks, follow our Twitter @TCDLaunchBox.

Below, I have listed the weekly mentors/guest speakers that have been involved in LaunchBox 2022 so far. I would like to say a huge thank you for volunteering your time and knowledge for the benefit of the next generation of founders and innovators in Ireland. I would like to extend this thank you to all mentors of individual team(s) who are assisting them with the next steps along their entrepreneurial journey.

LaunchBox 2022 Guest Speakers/Weekly Mentors so far: Aimee-Louise Carton (KeepAppy), Luke Rynne Cullen (TuneRelease), Pierce Dargan (Equine MediRecord), Graham McMullin (Trinity College Dublin), Eugene Theodore (Saga Squared), Ken Finnegan (Tangent), Shane Kerins (PWC), Conor Meaney (PWC), Brian Caulfield (Molten Ventures) and Eric Risser (Artomatix).

"The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope" - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

Written by, Gerald Boylan, Project Officer, LaunchBox 2022