Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland • Hacker News Board

Re: Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

#31

Post by bluelu » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 2:29 PM UTC

You get much better deals in other countries.

For instance, in Luxembourg, the state is going to double your investment (up to a million €) while not taking any parts in the company. But you must pass a comittee which decides on whether you get the funding or not. (http://www.eco.public.lu/salle_de_presse/com_presse_et_art_a...)

There is still much more: E.g. reimbursement of fair costs, 40% salary takeover by the state if you hire university graduates which haven't yet found a job, etc...

Re: Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

#32

Post by a-priori » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 2:31 PM UTC

rmc wrote: post #13

lubos wrote: post #4

another bummer: "Please note applicants must be eligible to live and work in Ireland."

Any of the EU half a billion people can live and work in Ireland.

Or, if your parents or grandparents are Irish diaspora, like mine, you can claim Irish citizenship fairly easily. They already consider you a citizen, technically, so there's no immigration proceedings; you just need to "register a foreign birth" and provide documentation.

Actually, if that's true of any EU country with similar rules you could claim citizenship in that country and be allowed to live and work in Ireland. We're talking about a lot of people here.

Of course, becoming a citizen of another country shouldn't be taken lightly, and it does take time.

Re: Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

#33

Post by donohoe » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 2:37 PM UTC

I heard about it through this really good podcast, where a rep from the David Smith, Senor Vice President of Enterprise Ireland (and I believe is based in Silicon Alley) explains the stake they take and why. Very informative:

Blog Post on Startup Success Podcast:

http://startupsuccesspodcast.com/2011/01/show-96-david-smith...

Direct Link to MP3:

http://media.startupsuccesspodcast.com/StartupSuccess096.mp3

You can still work in the US but you just have to have your company HQ etc in Ireland.

As I'm from Ireland myself, but live and work in NYC, I can attest to the talented developers and modern infrastructure in Ireland. Its not for everyone, but worth a look.

Re: Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

#34

Post by toot » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 2:38 PM UTC

Strange to find this on Hacker News, considering I was only discussing the EI programs with my entrepreneurship lecturer last week! The March 11th deadline may be a bit too close at this stage, but I'm always willing to plot and scheme with Irish hackers! I will shortly complete my business management degree, and as part of this I am consulting with a local online marketing/SEO firm. I've dabbled with learning programming to do my own startup, or maybe even starting my own marketing shop, but for the time being I have been lurking here for ages, absorbing all the business advice I can get my hands on.

If any Irish hackers want to have a chat, to let me know what you're working on, or need a business-head to compliment their hacking skills drop me a line (email in profile).

Re: Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

#35

Post by maayank » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 2:48 PM UTC

bluelu wrote: post #31

You get much better deals in other countries. For instance, in Luxembourg, the state is going to double your investment (up to a million €) while not taking any parts in the company. But you must pass a comittee which decides on whether you get the funding or not. ( http://www.eco.public.lu/salle_de_presse/com_presse_et_art_a... ) There is still much more: E.g. reimbursement of fair costs, 40% salary takeover by the…

May someone well-versed in the dark art which is French elaborate more on this program? Is it open only to EU members? Would a startup without millions of capital might really be eligible?

Re: Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

#36

Post by Peroni » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 2:52 PM UTC

ciupicri wrote: post #29

rmc wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any of the EU half a billion people can live and work in Ireland.

Not anyone from EU. Bulgaria and Romania are excluded: On 17 December 2008, the Government announced its decision that, from 1 January 2009, it would continue to restrict access to the Irish labour market for nationals of Bulgaria and Romania. [1] [1] http://www.deti.ie/labour/workpermits/whoneedsapermit.htm

Let's adjust the figures to suit your additional facts:

EU Population: 500 Million

EU Population eligible to live & work in Ireland: 470 Million

Re: Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

#37

Post by NxguiGui » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 2:54 PM UTC

ciupicri wrote: post #29

rmc wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any of the EU half a billion people can live and work in Ireland.

Not anyone from EU. Bulgaria and Romania are excluded: On 17 December 2008, the Government announced its decision that, from 1 January 2009, it would continue to restrict access to the Irish labour market for nationals of Bulgaria and Romania. [1] [1] http://www.deti.ie/labour/workpermits/whoneedsapermit.htm

Yes this is double standard that is eu. I am Bulgarian and have business that makes web based solutions from 2004.I can assure you that we have many qualified programmers. Vmware has a big local offiice, from years sap has one to, we have Bulgarian sucsess in software business to - Telerik and Vray. The point is that bureaucrats are ignorant and don't make anything accept pr using taxpayer money. Wish you luck with 50k agenda.

Re: Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

#38

Post by ciupicri » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 2:54 PM UTC

rmc wrote: post #12

dclaysmith wrote: post #5

Dublin is a great place to live and good place for tech companies. I recently had to hire a developer and got plenty of good resumes and was really happy with the eventual hire. Google, PayPal, Facebook are here and loads of online gaming/gambling companies too. Plus you can't beat the Guiness. That being said, I'd say that if you aren't already in Ireland--the funding above would probably not be an option. Getting a…

Getting a visa is not a trivial matter Remember Ireland is a member of the European Union, so any EU citizen can live & work in Ireland. If you parent or grandparent are Irish citizens/have an irish passport, then you can get Irish citizenship and live and work in Ireland forever.

Not any EU citizen http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2300890

Re: Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

#39

Post by bluelu » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 2:55 PM UTC

maayank wrote: post #35

bluelu wrote: post #31

You get much better deals in other countries. For instance, in Luxembourg, the state is going to double your investment (up to a million €) while not taking any parts in the company. But you must pass a comittee which decides on whether you get the funding or not. ( http://www.eco.public.lu/salle_de_presse/com_presse_et_art_a... ) There is still much more: E.g. reimbursement of fair costs, 40% salary takeover by the…

May someone well-versed in the dark art which is French elaborate more on this program? Is it open only to EU members? Would a startup without millions of capital might really be eligible?

Your company must be based in Luxembourg, so you must have an authorization to create a company in Luxembourg which is sometimes hard to get. But they are trying to improve things there.

You will get the help only once and it will only match the investment you invest into your company as well. So if invest 0€ into your company, you will also get 0€.

Re: Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

#40

Post by barrettcolin » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 3:04 PM UTC

To my knowledge, this is actually the second such fund being made available since late last year. I guess the first one was oversubscribed, which (I hope at least) augurs well. If you're in Ireland and you didn't hear about the first round or this round, they were certainly advertised in the Sunday Business Post newspaper (and I assume others), as well as online. Announcements appear to generally be posted here http://bestconnected.enterprise-ireland.com/

I have no association aside from being an interested observer, FWIW.