Digital Hub Development Agency Welcomes New Companies to The Digital Hub

Fourteen growing digital companies have joined the enterprise cluster at Dublin’s Digital Hub in the third quarter of 2014. This brings the total of new arrivals at The Digital Hub to 28 since the start of the year.

The new companies, six of which are from outside the Republic of Ireland (namely, the UK, France, Norway, Sweden and the US), collectively employ 64 people at present and are expected to create 52 additional high-skilled jobs over the next six months.

The new companies are:

• ActionFinish aims to replace all those tedious paper based tasks, jobs and forms with one app to capture and manage them all. ActionFinish is due to launch in December 2014 on iOS with Android and Windows Phone versions launching early next year.

• beActive is an Irish, award winning and EMMY-nominated TV, Film and Digital studio with a decade of experience in Film and TV production, international co-production, licensing and distribution of entertainment content across a multitude of platforms.

• Boomerang is a global, strategic digital agency working with industry-leading pharmaceutical and healthcare companies that provides compelling digital solutions that are instrumental in closing the gap between companies, physicians, and patients alike.

• Caramagic is an app producer. Its launch product is the MagicFriends digital puppet app for children and their parents. Built on the latest VoIP platform, it uses fun and friendly characters and voice changer technology. MagicFriends works by connecting and pairing two Apple mobile devices; iPad, iPhone or iPad touch 5 over a Wi-Fi connection. It has been developed in partnership with Marino Software, Giant Animation, Maynooth University and Athlone IT.

• CertiVox is a UK based company specialising in IT security, in particular a product to replace password-based authentication for all online computing systems. CertiVox’s proven expertise in both encryption and authentication means they can arm businesses and individuals with easy-to-use, certificateless security solutions for all things Internet.

• Connector is an Irish company and works for clients like Sony Mobile, Allianz, Griffith College and a mix of startups and SMEs. Ventures include SocialMedia.ie, focused on specialist training and social media campaigns, and Futurology.ie which helps businesses to future proof and get ready for the Internet of Things.

• Find the Best is a research engine focused on collecting, structuring, and connecting the world’s data — 88 billion facts to date — to give people the most information about their interests. The US company’s desktop site, mobile site, and embeddable widgets let people thoroughly research thousands of topics on one intuitive interface.

• .GLOBAL is the new generic Top Level Domain (TLD) and gives organisations large and small a name that broadcasts and identifies them as global entities, operating on a universal scale. .GLOBAL, a Norwegian company, offers a trusted space entirely dedicated to existing and aspiring brands that aim to reach a market that transcends geographic and commercial borders.

• Good Travel Software focuses on the sharing economy. Their first product Drop Car is yield management and fleet balancing software for large car share companies, ensuring that cars are distributed evenly around the city and maximising the daily revenue per car.  Good Travel Software owns all of the technology assets for the Whipcar P2P carsharing service and their software has been used by 39,000 members in the UK.

• H2 Learning is an Irish professional services organisation, providing a range of services in the areas of e-Learning and ICT in education. H2 Learning has experience in developing high-quality and interactive resources for the education market, on behalf of a range of public and private sector clients. H2 Learning works with schools, colleges and learning organisations to use ICT and e-Learning more effectively to enhance teaching, learning and assessment.

• Juvo is a full service digital marketing agency which helps businesses to build and grow their online presence by developing bespoke solutions that span from web design and development, graphic design to online marketing, SEO and social media campaigns.

• PriceSpy is Ireland’s first online shopping product and price comparison service. Listing more than 115,000 products from nearly 500 Irish online stores, PriceSpy enables shoppers compare prices and have all the information at their fingertips to make smart shopping decisions. PriceSpy is a part of the international media group Schibsted ASA, owner of popular Irish website Donedeal.ie, with headquarters in Oslo, Norway.

• PlayON.co is a UK-based sports entertainment business, operating in the fantasy sports sector. The company enables people to play daily and weekly fantasy sports games against each other, for free or for cash. Since launching a year ago, PlayON has attracted customers from over 100 different countries. The company has offices in Dublin and London and former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler is their official Ambassador.

• Shake is an online network that privately connects students and graduates with hiring managers using algorithms that analyse and match suitable candidates with career opportunities. Users discover opportunities by creating their private profile and building a career timeline. Companies can promote jobs, internships and graduate programmes through Shake.

The latest additions bring the total number of companies now operating at The Digital Hub to 85.

Commenting today (28.10.14), Gerry Macken, CEO of The Digital Hub, said: “It is with great pleasure that I welcome the newest tranche of companies to The Digital Hub. It’s fantastic to see that no less than fourteen additional companies have joined us in the third quarter of 2014 alone, bringing the total of new companies this year to 28. 
“Here at The Digital Hub, we aim to help digital media companies grow and prosper, providing a supportive environment where they will be at the centre of a vibrant, innovation-focused community, sharing knowledge, exchanging ideas and forming partnerships.

“With 85 companies now working from our campus, it is clear that investment in the marketplace is moving along at a steady pace and The Digital Hub is continuing to grow and add value to the wider economy. In addition, our recent success at the IIA Net Visionary Awards, picking up the ‘Very Best Place to be’ award, is testament to our understanding of the needs of the digital media and technology companies here on campus, and we continuously strive to facilitate and support them in any way we can.”

Peter Soutter, CEO of Good Travel Software, commented on why he chose to locate his business at The Digital Hub: “Good Travel Software was established through the Launchpad programme in the NDRC which happens to be located on The Digital Hub campus. It was a great place to start our business and we have loved working in an environment full of technology focused companies.
“We have now outgrown the space but we wanted to remain in The Digital Hub and continue to benefit from the collaboration and idea exchange that thrives in the area.”

For more information about The Digital Hub, visit www.thedigitalhub.com

ENDS

Contact: Martina Quinn / Sarah Harte, DHR Communications, Tel: 01-4200580 / 087-6522033 / 087-9858259

Notes to Editors:

About The Digital Hub

Based in Dublin city centre, The Digital Hub is an international centre of excellence for growing digital enterprises.  It is currently home to 85 scaling digital companies, employing over 900 people. Since the project’s inception, 170 companies have progressed through the enterprise cluster at The Digital Hub, including some now well-established names such as Distilled Media Group (Daft.ie), Havok, Houghton Mifflin (Riverdeep), Amazon, Gala Networks Europe and Kavaleer.  The Digital Hub Development Agency is the Irish state agency that manages The Digital Hub.  Further information is available at: www.thedigitalhub.com.

Further information about the latest companies to join The Digital Hub:

• ActionFinish aims to replace all those tedious paper based tasks, jobs and forms with one app to capture and manage them all. ActionFinish is due for launch in December 2014 on iOS with Android and Windows Phone versions launching early next year. They currently employ two members of staff at The Digital Hub.In the coming six months they expect to recruit an online marketer to join the team.

• beActive is an award winning and EMMY-nominated TV, Film and Digital studio with a decade of experience in Film and TV production, international co-production, licensing and distribution of entertainment content across a multitude of platforms. beActive’s TV and Film credits include projects for Sony Pictures Television, HBO, and Fox International Channels.  beActive’s digital credits include several mobile apps and games, transmedia documentaries and multiplatform interactive experiences, and they have been nominated for an International Digital EMMY. They currently employ four members of staff and in the coming six months they expect to recruit an additional two full time staff members in creative development and administration.

• Boomerang is a global, strategic digital agency working with industry-leading pharmaceutical and healthcare companies that provides compelling digital solutions that are instrumental in closing the gap between companies, physicians, and patients alike. As a full-service agency, Boomerang provides a comprehensive range of services that are mutually supportive in addressing strategic imperatives: digital strategic planning, creative direction, UX and IA excellence, social media implementation within local regulatory guidelines, a unique approach to analytics, search optimisation and media buying, and technical development with a platform-agnostic approach so they can work within each client’s IT standards. They currently employ eight staff members in Dublin. In the coming six months they expect to employ a total of 25 members of staff, in a range of creative roles (designers, UX/IA experts), content (copywriters, content strategists), and development (front-end plus back-end developers).

• Connector is a leading Irish digital business agency which creates innovative bespoke solutions, products and digital properties for clients. Connector works for clients like Sony Mobile, Allianz, Griffith College and a mix of start-ups and SMEs. Connector’s ventures include: SocialMedia.ie, which has a great track record in specialist training and campaigns in social media; and Futurology.ie which helps businesses future proof and prepare for the Internet of Things. They currently employ four full time and four part time staff members in Dublin. In the coming six months they expect to employ a total of three new members of staff – a web developer, digital account manager and intern.

• Caramagic is an Irish app producer. Its launch product is the MagicFriends digital puppet app for children and their parents. MagicFriends is a new and original concept that lets kids have real conversations with MagicFriends puppet characters who “come to life” on the screen before their eyes. Built on the latest VoIP platform, it uses fun and friendly characters and voice changer technology. MagicFriends works by connecting and pairing two Apple mobile devices; iPad, iPhone or iPad touch 5 over a Wi-Fi connection. It has been developed with our technical partners Marino Software, Giant Animation, NU Maynooth and AIT. They currently employ two staff members in Dublin. In the coming six months they expect to employ a total of six to ten members of staff, and will be recruiting for people with marketing and PR skills, a graphic designer and an art director.

• CertiVox is a UK based company specialising in IT security, in particular a product to replace password-based authentication for all online computing systems. CertiVox’s proven expertise in both encryption and authentication means they can arm businesses and individuals with easy-to-use, certificate less security solutions for all things Internet. They currently employ three staff members in Dublin. In the coming six months they expect to employ one additional member of staff.

• Juvo is a full service digital marketing agency, born in Dublin over a pint of the black stuff one rainy evening in early 2014. Juvo helps businesses to build and grow their online presence by developing bespoke solutions that span from web design and development, graphic design to online marketing, SEO and social media campaigns. They currently employ 5 staff members across web development, digital marketing and design functions, and they aim to double that within the next 12 months in all areas encompassing digital marketing.

• Good Travel Software focuses on the sharing economy. Their first product Drop Car is yield management and fleet balancing software for large car share companies, ensuring that cars are distributed evenly around the city and maximising the daily revenue per car.  Good Travel Software owns all of the technology assets for the Whipcar P2P carsharing service and their software has been used by 39,000 members in the UK. They currently employ four full time and one part time staff member in Dublin. In the coming six months they expect to employ two additional members of staff, in software development and sales.

• H2 Learning is a professional services organisation, providing a range of services in the areas of e-Learning and ICT in education. With over 10 years in business, H2 Learning has developed experience in developing high-quality and interactive resources for the education market, on behalf of a range of public and private sector clients. H2 Learning works with schools, colleges and learning organisations to use ICT and e-Learning more effectively to enhance teaching, learning and assessment. H2 Learning also specialises in integrating technology and digital media into educational programmes in effective and appropriate ways. They currently employ 8 office based staff members and two field based staff members.

• PriceSpy is Ireland’s first online shopping product and price comparison service. Listing more than 115,000 products from nearly 500 Irish online stores, PriceSpy enables shoppers compare prices and have all the information at their fingertips to make smart shopping decisions. In addition to updating data several times a day to ensure that the most accurate and up to date prices are listed, PriceSpy features a number of tools to help shoppers maximise their savings: Product listings are presented in a ‘lowest price first’ order; A bar code scanner on the mobile app allows shoppers to compare online prices while shopping in-store; Shoppers can read other users’ product reviews to help get the best deals.PriceSpy operates in Ireland, UK, Sweden, Norway and New Zealand, and is owned and run by the Swedish company Prisjakt Sverige AB. PriceSpy is a part of the international media group Schibsted ASA, owner of popular Irish website Donedeal.ie, with headquarters in Oslo, Norway. They currently employ two staff members in Dublin, with company headquarters in Angelhom, Sweden.

• Shake is an online network that privately connects students and graduates with hiring managers using algorithms that analyse and match suitable candidates with career opportunities. Users discover opportunities by creating their private profile and building a career timeline. Going beyond the limitations of a CV, users can add projects, languages, events they attended, skills they’ve learned and much more. Each story the user adds to their timeline is used by Shake’s matching software, making them more discoverable but also helping them stand out and show their potential. Companies can promote jobs, internships and graduate programmes through Shake. They currently employ three full time staff members in Dublin. In the coming six months they expect to double their team to six people, and will be recruiting for the roles of Data Scientist, Software Developer and Mobile Developer.

• .GLOBAL is the new generic Top Level Domain (TLD) and gives organisations large and small a name that broadcasts and identifies them as global entities, operating on a universal scale. .GLOBAL, a Norwegian company, takes the top position in a business domain hierarchy unifying all geographic and sub-TLDs under one global umbrella for the ultimate universal coverage. .GLOBAL offers a trusted space entirely dedicated to existing and aspiring brands that aim to reach a market that transcends geographic and commercial borders. They currently employ one staff member in Dublin.

• FindTheBest is a research engine focused on collecting, structuring, and connecting the world’s data — 88 billion facts to date — to give people the most information about their interests. The US company’s desktop site, mobile site, and embeddable widgets let people thoroughly research thousands of topics on one intuitive interface. Launched in late 2010, FindTheBest has quickly become a leading research engine with 28 million monthly visits and $17 million in funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and the Pritzker Group. FindTheBest is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California. They currently employ seven staff members in Dublin.
• PlayON.co is a UK-based sports entertainment business, operating in the fantasy sports sector. The company enables people to play daily and weekly fantasy sports games against each other, for free or for cash. Since launching a year ago, PlayON has attracted customers from over 100 different countries. The company has offices in Dublin and London and former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler is their official Ambassador. They currently employ four staff members and in the coming six months they expect to grow their team by 10 additional members of staff.