- Steve Collins to launch 11th NovaUCD ‘Entrepreneurs Live!’ Seminar Series

Steve Collins, co-founder of Havok which was acquired by Intel in September 2007 for $110 million, will launch the 11th NovaUCD ‘Entrepreneurs Live!’ seminar series on October 8. Havok is the premier provider of interactive software and services for digital media creators in the games and movie industries.

The current series of ‘Entrepreneurs Live!’ seminars will feature other leading Irish entrepreneurs each Wednesday lunch time (1 pm to 1:50 pm) until November 12. The seminars will take place in NovaUCD, Belfield, Dublin 4 and attendance is open to all.

The aim of these seminars which are organised by NovaUCD in association with the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Enterprise Board is to promote a spirit of entrepreneurship among the academic, research and student population at UCD.

The five other guest speakers in the current series are Sean Mitchell, CEO, Movidia (October 15), Sean Fee, CEO & co-founder, iFoods.tv (October 22), Bernard Hensey, CEO & founder Phive Plasma Technologies (October 29), Michael Cullen, CEO & co-founder, Beacon Medical Group (November 5) and Declan Kearney, CEO & founder, Supplierforce.com (November 12).

According to Dr Pat Frain, Director, NovaUCD, “The ‘Entrepreneurs Live!’ seminars attract a large and diverse audience which stimulates a lively and enthusiastic debate on issues relating to entrepreneurship and innovation and the establishment and development of technology-based companies in Ireland.”

At the NovaUCD ‘Entrepreneurs Live!’ seminars these leading Irish entrepreneurs will talk about their experiences of setting-up and running their businesses emphasising the highs and lows encountered along their entrepreneurial journey and they will share the secrets of their success. During each seminar attendees will have the opportunity to ask probing questions of the guest entrepreneur.

According to Michael Johnson, CEO, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Enterprise Board, “The ‘Entrepreneurs Live!’ seminar series is a hugely successful collaboration between our organisation and NovaUCD. By talking openly about their experiences as entrepreneurs, the featured business owners give audiences a valuable insight into the commercial and personal challenges that arise when starting and growing a venture.”

Previous speakers at NovaUCD ‘Entrepreneurs Live!’ seminars include, Anne Heraty, CPL Group, Eamonn Fallon, Daft.ie, Stephen Flood, Gold Investments and Oliver Tattan, Vivas Healthcare.

ENDS

1 October 2008

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, e-mail: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, tel: (01) 716 3712.

Editors Notes

NovaUCD is University College Dublin’s €11 million Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre.  NovaUCD is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research and for the development of co-operation with industry and business. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx. 

The Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Enterprise Board is a State Enterprise Development Agency offering support to individuals in the county of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown who are thinking of starting a business and to those who are looking to grow their small business. There are 35 City & County Enterprise Boards in Ireland and the role of each is to help the development of micro-enterprises (i.e. businesses with up to 10 employees.