Propel - The beginning

When people were asking me what Propel and Ignite were before we started on their accelerator programme, I answered, “It’s a 6 month programme for 20 companies who want to set up or grow their business in Northern Ireland, with aspirations to expand globally.”

Two weeks after having started I realise it’s going to be so much more than that. The team at Ignite are on a mission to help our companies succeed in a big way. In order to do this has meant them questioning every part of our business. This may not sound like a fun process but it has led to one of the most creative and productive periods we have had to date. It has been painful but enlightening.

We have already learnt so much from the Ignite NI team, through their experience, knowledge and network. Here is a snapshot of what Chris, Tristan, Ian and Kate have taught us so far:

• Always be ready to pitch. Always. Be. Pitching.
• Customer segmentation is key. The more niche your target customer, the better
• Founder health is more important than anything else, don’t kill yourself trying to succeed
• NI is one of the most supportive environments to build a company; Ignite helps companies scale and deliver to global markets, in partnership with InvestNI
• Choose metrics that change your behaviour, you need to find the one metric that matters (OMTM). Below are some perfect examples:

World class speakers

The first special guest was Mark Dowds, serial entrepreneur and founder of Trov and the Ormeau Baths workspace, where the Propel programme is based. One quote that stuck with me was “Character equals Success”. No matter where you are on your business journey don’t forget that it is who you are that matters, not how much money you make or how much failure you encounter. Being an entrepreneur is about becoming super disciplined in your life, protecting your time and valuing yourself.

In the second week, Paul Smith came in, who was one of the founders of the Ignite programme and has a wealth of innovative tech and startup experience. He was direct, blunt and refreshingly honest. He drilled down into how to grow your customer base from zero to ten, ensuring that you are looking after yourself when running your company and encouraged founders to be pragmatic optimists, see this brilliant article by Paul. He also told us about his new business, Ricochet, which helps SMEs automate business development. It was a great to see the messages from his session being turned into an amazing product.

The Propel Cohort 2019

What has really made the course so enjoyable thus far are the other 19 founders and companies on the programme, who have some incredible businesses. The more we deep dive into the companies in the sessions the more I want to be an advocate for their businesses. If you are interested in speaking to anyone I would be happy to put you in touch:

• Airbiro - a respiratory platform that improves adherence and inhalation technique to control asthma symptoms
• Affyon - securing the link between outdated legacy and modern systems
• Aubergine - a beauty and wellness loyalty app. “It's easy, it's aubergine.”
• Beosense - revolutionising the time it takes to test animals in the field
• Ben Mudge Community - an online fitness community with the best video content for helping people overcome any adversity to achieve their fitness goals
• Bookentertainment - online platform for booking entertainment for your events, over 600 bands, and building
• Digital54 - creating solutions to reduce the burden of governance for charity boards
• Dyadey - supercharged social media, for fans and fanatics of niche areas
• Enhance Performance - an analytics platform to improve the performance of athletes
• Esther - peer-to-peer giving for homeless people. Charities are inefficient and Esther is cutting out the middleman using blockchain technology to ensure every penny goes to the cause it supports
• G Science - sports psychology for e-sports. Performance is mental, not physical
• Gradient Edge - using AI to power customisation for large retailers
• MedAll - the professional network or LinkedIn for doctors, helping doctors to collaborate globally
• Nigma - helping software engineers hire better engineers
• Payhere - streamlining online payments for SMEs
• Paybolt - cashless payment and token system for large scale events
• Skylark - improving the safety and accountability of remote workers in the wind turbine industry
• The Style Edit - fashion website with super engaging content
• Trustock - a platform for stores to manage their inventory