The final 12 participants on Advantage NI’s innovative Business Boot Camp recently graduated from the programme at Belfast Castle.

After fierce competition from over 120 applicants across Northern Ireland, 36 young would-be entrepreneurs secured a much coveted place on the programme. Funded by Invest Northern Ireland, and endorsed by ILM, Business Boot Camp is geared to 18-30 year olds who are considering starting their own business.

Amongst the participants were two technology entrepreneurs:

Patrick Lismore, R8 Technology Ltd, Jordanstown
A new E-Democracy web platform which allows the public to rate their politician and allows politicians to engage and interact with citizens more easily and transparently.  Patrick is 26. He is experienced in software engineering and worked with IT companies in both Europe and the United States.www.r8yourpolitician.com

Ryan Cushnahan, Caoilte Sports Ltd, Portglenone
Sports results reporting software that runs on a handheld PDA which is used to record Gaelic football/soccer match statistics in real-time.  Ryan is a 30 year old software engineer. He has developed a cutting edge sports statistics product which will enable managers and coaches to keep accurate statistics of the players and teams’ performance during matches. www.gaastats.com

After pitching their business idea to a panel of experts the 36 young business brains were then whittled down to this, the final 12.  Only recently back on home soil after a hugely successful 7 day business residential to Canada, valued at £4500, the 12 graduates are now looking forward to a bright future in business!

Article source : NI Tech Blog http://nitechblog.com/blog/p.php?id=543