The Irish Tech News Podcast

We chat with Karl Purdy, Founder and MD of Coffeeangel. Before launching Coffeeangel, Karl was an aspiring photojournalist. Returning to Belfast in 1995 (after 20 years in Canada) to cover the first IRA ceasefire, following an uncomfortable run-in with loyalist paramilitaries, Karl found himself opening Belfast (and Ireland’s) first specialty coffee shop in 1997. It was an unexpected and overnight success. Unbeknownst at the time, this little shop ultimately launched today’s Irish specialty coffee scene. Relocating to Dublin in 2000 and starting again from scratch, Karl opened a little, three-wheeled coffee cart on Howth’s East Pier in 2004. On its first day Coffeeangel served 150 coffees. Seventeen years later Coffeeangel now has five locations across Dublin city centre, a thriving ecommerce & wholesale business. Having served well over one million cups of delicious coffee, Karl and the team at Coffeeangel remain laser-focused on providing a world class product, efficiently and consistently with genuinely Irish customer service at the heart of it all.

The old adage says to make hay when the Sun shines, but what do you do when the skies are grey? With this ongoing pandemic and the spectre of uncertainty surrounding it, being a startup founder has never been more challenging. How can startups look at these moments of uncertainty as moments of opportunity?  In this episode of One Vision, Theo and Bradley chat with Arun Krishnakumar about his new book, Restartup, co-written with Maxson Tee, where they address how moments of crisis can be a time that startups can truly thrive. Arun walks us through their collection of case studies, in-depth interviews of VCs, CEOs, and academics, and their framework that startups can use to survive any storm.

Suzanna Hayek met with Pete Townsend on August 24th, and they discussed trends in digital finance, startups, investing, and how Pete wishes he had been an actual rock star. Trends The keywords that Pete searches for to help him shape his thesis are fintech, embedded finance, digital assets, crypto, defi, blockchain, DLT, NFTs, metaverse, tokens, tokenization, etc. To him, this is all about the ongoing digitalization of finance into what he calls "digital finance"– enabling the buying and selling of financial products and services, by both institutions and individuals, through a 100% digital experience across the entire value chain, extending from how that financial product is created through to how it does what it's supposed to do (spend, save, invest, insure) in the hands of an individual or an institution. Pete's thoughts on Cryptocurrency Pete talked about crypto's successful 12-year proof of concept for the wider digitalisation of finance - lots to learn as we move to the new frontier of money. He also talked extensively about crypto enabling financial inclusion and how migrants can largely benefit. He talked about how his experiences, particularly his visit to Bolivia in 2006, were stark reminders of the disparity between rich and poor. Pete pointed out that financial inclusion is not a charity but a profitable business model. His tips for startups and investing in startups included asking the following questions:- 1- What problem are you solving, and is that problem big enough for individuals or businesses to give you money to solve that problem? 2- Does that group of individuals and/or businesses form a customer market that's big enough for you to get to $100mn in annual recurring revenue? 3- What's your plan to reach those customers? If you're B2B, how do you bring those businesses more customers, and if you're B2C, how do you monetize other businesses' interest in your customers? 4- Founder-market fit - why is this founder tackling this problem for this market, why now, and can they build and grow* the business? 5- Everything else - team, traction, technology, timing, terms & competition And finally, he challenged everyone to guess the opening jingle to his podcast, Money Never Sleeps, for a free one-hour consultation with him. Bio Pete Townsend is the founder of Norio Ventures, a startup advisor,  NED, podcaster @MNSShow and a self-proclaimed rockstar of financial services. Pete is based in Ireland. Suzanna Hayek is an MA Journalism student in London. She is interested in covering social issues and ocean conservation. In her free time, Suzanna volunteers at EduPact, an initiative by a London-based non-profit, which aims to provide free online lessons to children in Lebanon – where she is originally from. Suzanna is happiest when freediving.

Adam Bouktilda, director of the NFT concierge delivery house dMerch talks through three quite different projects he has managed on the WAX Blockchain with the third about to drop in a few weeks. Your host is Jillian Godsil, award winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Her latest book can be found at https://persons-of-interest.io/ 

We talk with Tom Gorman to learn more about trends in colocation and sustainability initiatives taking place in Ireland Tom joined Interxion with over 29 years of experience working with global organisations, managing strategic technical projects and teams across global networks, Construction, Electrical & Mechanical Services, Safety and Quality Management Systems among other areas. More recently, Tom has spent the past 5 years working in Senior Operational roles within AWS Data Services, both in Ireland and Germany where he was responsible for developing & mentoring an Agile World Class Operations team tasked with delivering Operational Excellence across multiple regions. Interxion, A Digital Realty Company Interxion, A Digital Realty Company, supports the world’s leading enterprises and service providers by delivering the full spectrum of data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL®, the company’s global data center platform, provides customers a trusted foundation and proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx™) solution methodology for scaling digital business and efficiently managing data gravity challenges. Digital Realty’s global data center footprint gives customers access to the connected communities that matter to them with 290 facilities in 47 metros across 24 countries on six continents. To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

We hear so much about the dangers of new technology and artificial intelligence but what about the benefits it can have on our lives when put into action? HaloCare is a company that uses technology and AI to helps elderly people stay in their own homes for longer, with the added comfort of an around the clock support system monitoring their vital health data, fall prevention, personal and environmental safety, and social and cultural interconnectivity. This use of new technology and artificial intelligence will result in people staying in their homes longer and will revolutionise health care in the home. Ronan talks to Niall Kelly, HaloCare’s Chief Technology Officer. Niall talks about how HaloCare started, what HaloCare does, how technology such as AI helps, why wearables aren’t there yet, HaloCare’s four pillars, and what he see’s coming down the line technology wise. More about HaloCare: HaloCare’s software can monitor a client’s posture, movement, and even count steps, all without the use of cameras. Additional devices can also remotely monitor the symptoms of chronic diseases, and support is readily available from the experienced nurses and care specialists in their Carlow based Care Hub. While technology and older people don’t often go hand in hand, HaloCare’s innovative idea is a clear demonstration to the older generation of the benefits of technology.

Cryptocurrency: How digital money could transform finance is the latest instalment of the Penguin/Wired small handy guidebooks. Cryptocurrency has become the new global talking point with people like Elon Musk discussing Dogecoin on SNL, labelling it a ‘hustle’. Gian Volpicelli discusses with Ebony the importance of why everyone should know about Cryptocurrency and the status it will have as we move towards a more digital world. Gian M. Volpicelli is a senior editor at Wired UK. His areas of interest include cryptocurrency, technology regulation and digital politics. Twitter

We catch up with Manuel Heyden, cofounder of nextmarkets who are aiming to revolutionise trading with a fee-free model, which includes free expert coaching. Manuel Heyden (M. Sc. , born 1980) is co-founder and CEO of nextmarkets, Europe's fee-free neobroker based in Cologne. As CEO, he heads offices in Cologne, Lisbon and Malta with currently 42 employees. nextmarkets is backed by leading venture capitalists such as Peter Thiel, Founders Fund, Christian Angermayer, Axel Springer, Falk Strascheg and the listed FinLab AG. In addition to one of the largest offerings on the market and innovative financial products such as fractional trading or the specially developed money market product, nextmarkets is characterised by its clear focus on conveying stock market knowledge through free coaches. Manuel Heyden | CEO, Co-founder Manuel was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1980. He started his career in 1999 founding his first online marketing company at age of 19. Since then Manuel has followed his passion for product development, design and online marketing especially in the financial technology sector. After spending two and a half years in investment banking with ABN AMRO Bank in Frankfurt and London to establish an online brokerage company, he founded the social trading company, ayondo, in 2007 and sold most of his shares in 2014. Manuel holds a Master of Science from European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel. nextmarkets is Europe's fee-free neobroker based in Cologne. The German fintech operates offices in Cologne, Lisbon and Malta with currently 42 employees. nextmarkets is backed by leading venture capitalists such as Peter Thiel, Founders Fund, Christian Angermayer, Axel Springer, Falk Strascheg and the listed FinLab AG. In addition to one of the largest offerings on the market and innovative financial products such as fractional trading or the specially developed money market product, nextmarkets is characterised by its clear focus on conveying stock market knowledge through free coaches.

When it comes to planning for your finances, who do you turn to? Friends? Family? Colleagues? Or the Internet? With global fintech investment reaching US$98 billion across 2,456 deals in the first half of 2021 alone, one would have thought that planning for longevity wouldn’t be such a shot in the dark.  In this episode of One Vision, Theo and Bradley chat with Rhian Horgan, Founder and CEO of Silvur, about the state of retirement planning today and her journey towards helping baby boomers navigate retirement.

Suzanna Hayek met with Nick Ayton to discuss crypto's increased popularity, its role in countries in financial collapse, NFTs and NFAs, and finally, his TV drama.  According to crypto.com, the global crypto population in June doubled compared to the number of users in January, increasing from 106 million to 221 million. Nick discussed some of the possible reasons behind the growth in uptake, including new trends in crypto, people having more free time during the pandemic, DeFi, Elon Musk, and disenfranchisement in governments. Nick also comments on the shift towards cryptocurrency in countries with highly volatile currencies due to poor fiscal policies as they seek alternatives to their unreliable centralised systems. Some countries have backed crypto, while others have imposed strict regulations, but Nick argues that crypto is here to stay. There are security challenges, however. With increased decentralisation and smart contracts, there are more vulnerabilities, which hackers can exploit. On the topic of NFTs and NFAs, Nick explains that when you buy an NFT, you buy a token; the asset linked to it is on another chain, creating problems. The solution is NFAs, which bind the token exchange with the asset exchange within a legal framework. And finally, the discussion steers to Nick's TV drama about hacking and espionage. Nick Ayton is a leading deep technology influencer and thought leader who operates at the forefront of AI, Blockchain, Quantum Computing and is involved in Quantum Photonic Silicon Processing, real-time 3D rendering, Post Quantum Cryptography… A sought after speaker and strategist; he founded Chainstarter Ventures that helps entrepreneurs capital from Family Offices. The business focuses on the middle east and assists with capital raising, business development and market entry. Having spent 45 years in technology, founded several tech startups, he is a prolific writer and is making a TV series set against the backdrop ion the existential risk of AI and the race for supremacy between Russian, China and the USA. Suzanna Hayek is a Kuwait-born, MA Journalism student in London. Suzanna is interested in covering social issues, ocean conservation, and water sports. She is fluent in Arabic and English. Suzanna's love affair with the sea started whilst teaching English as a Foreign Language at a leading international organisation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In her free time, Suzanna volunteers at EduPact, an initiative by a London-based, non-profit, which aims to provide free online lessons to children in Lebanon – where she is originally from. Suzanna is happiest when freediving and her favourite sharks are tiger sharks.