Enterprise Ireland held its annual showcase of High Potential Start-Ups (HPSUs) on Wednesday last at the Mansion House in Dublin. This exciting showcase event puts the spotlight on the 97 HPSUs and 60 early stage entrepreneurs that were supported by the Irish government through Enterprise Ireland in 2012.

The companies come from a variety of sectors that the government has targeted for growth over the coming years including ICT, cleantech, food products, pharmaceutical and medical devices.

What is particularly exciting for us at the Learnovate Centre is the crop of start-ups drawn from the learning technologies sector. These include the TCD spin-out EmpowerTheUser, which produces simulation software for soft skills training; Qstream, who provides a real-time learning analytics platform designed to improve skills and knowledge retention levels; and Lingle, a provider of web-based resources for English language teachers and schools.

The sector was further represented by a number of companies that received funding through Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive Start Fund. Among those were FlipIQ, providers of a platform for online private tutoring; LearnUpon, which offers a cloud-based learning management system designed specifically for training companies and SMEs; and SlateState, which provides a cloud-based system for monitoring educational app usage in the classroom.

Digital game-based learning was represented by Sneaky Vegetables, who launched their ‘Round The Block 3-D drawing game aimed at 6-12 year olds in the last few weeks, and Nevermind Games, whose TroubleSum game includes an educational twist.

We look forward to working with you in the Learnovate Centre – providing breakthrough research and innovation support to companies in learning technologies.