ExamLearn, which was founded by three secondary school friends, is a fascinating new Irish Edtech startup. Here, one of the founders – Jack Manning – talks about building a business based on a big gap in the market. 

How and why did you start? 
ExamLearn was initially called JC-Learn. Me and two friends, Johnnie Bell and Eamonn Flannery, set it up shortly after getting our Junior Cert results (where we achieved a combined 30 As). We felt there was a lack of technology around the school study process. We also wanted to combat the need for expensive grinds and revision books so that anyone in Ireland could achieve a high grade, regardless of how much money they had to spend on education. We set about outlining all the most important features of an effective study plan: subject notes, A-grade past exam answers and expert study advice.
“Many older Edtech companies are behind the times when it comes to content and user experience”
How long did you spend on your business plan before your launch?
We initially didn’t spend any time on a business plan as we just got straight to work. We were completely inexperienced when it came to planning a  business model. However, after working on ExamLearn for a few weeks we became aware of the Student Enterprise Awards run by the Local Enterprise Offices. When we entered, we had to form a business plan and were given guidelines and workshops on how to do so. This provided some direction for our fledgeling business and allowed us to think about the more long-term business goals.
“We know exactly what students want because we are students ourselves.”
What is Examlearn’s USP?
The Irish ed-tech market is quite open. This has allowed a young startup like us to grasp a serious chunk of the market. Many older Edtech companies are behind the times

April Kavanagh is the founder of NurseCare, a business that marries two of her passions – nursing and beauty therapy. This is how she started and grew her business. 

In the beginning
When I was filling out my CAO form, I told my mother I wanted to be a beauty therapist, and she convinced me to be a nurse. So, after my four-year degree, four years as a scrub nurse in theatre and, two years doing a HDip in Midwifery, I found a way of marrying my love of beauty and aesthetics and nursing.
I got a job working in The Ailesbury Clinic under Dr Patrick Treacy. This was the beginning. I knew I could offer more of myself if I were out on my own. I knew I had an aesthetic eye and I have an excellent bedside manner. After my wedding, I bit the bullet and put every penny of our wedding present into funding my venture.
“After my wedding, I bit the bullet and put every penny of our wedding present into funding my venture.”
The trials of business planning
My business plan was a giant convoluted mess in which I spent about a month banging my head against a wall. It was full of self-doubt and fear of failure. There was one reason for this; I am a nurse. I had no business background except for an eight-week accounting module in the fourth year in school. I then met with a very sound minded businesswoman in Partas in Tallaght, and she advised me to pare it right back and look at the essentials and what market I was to target.
My USP
I am my USP. That is not meant to sound conceited, but when I am in a room with a client, nothing else matters but my client. I genuinely care about the

April Kerr is the founder of NurseCare, a business that marries two of her passions – nursing and beauty therapy. This is how she started and grew her business. 

In the beginning
When I was filling out my CAO form, I told my mother I wanted to be a beauty therapist, and she convinced me to be a nurse. So, after my four-year degree, four years as a scrub nurse in theatre and, two years doing a HDip in Midwifery, I found a way of marrying my love of beauty and aesthetics and nursing.
I got a job working in The Ailesbury Clinic under Dr Patrick Treacy. This was the beginning. I knew I could offer more of myself if I were out on my own. I knew I had an aesthetic eye and I have an excellent bedside manner. After my wedding, I bit the bullet and put every penny of our wedding present into funding my venture.
“After my wedding, I bit the bullet and put every penny of our wedding present into funding my venture.”
The trials of business planning
My business plan was a giant convoluted mess in which I spent about a month banging my head against a wall. It was full of self-doubt and fear of failure. There was one reason for this; I am a nurse. I had no business background except for an eight-week accounting module in the fourth year in school. I then met with a very sound minded businesswoman in Partas in Tallaght, and she advised me to pare it right back and look at the essentials and what market I was to target.
My USP
I am my USP. That is not meant to sound conceited, but when I am in a room with a client, nothing else matters but my client. I genuinely care about the

Cronan McNamara is the founder of Creme Global, an Irish firm with most of the biggest food companies in the world as clients. Here he talks about running a global business from Ireland and what more can be done to encourage entrepreneurship.
It’s nearly 20 years ago when I started working within the food safety sector. It’s funny while taking physics in college if someone had forecast the industry that I would be working in – I probably never would have believed it. However, the food sector is an exciting area; lots of data; lots of interesting work from agriculture to the finished product; issues ranging from shelf life; to food safety; to working on areas like the microbiome and DNA sequencing.
I always had an interest in maths, science and building things and so studied physics, because of the mathematical element and the real world nature of it. I also started to enjoy the computing side and followed with an MSc in Computing. After college, I began working in financial risk analysis, writing financial-risk software for derivative options pricing.
“Cash is king. We avoided investors, which I would recommend if you can.”
Later, I met my former professor, who at the time was working on a food-risk analysis project, linked with the Trinity Innovation Centre, which involved working with multiple partners across Europe. I then decided to go back and work on the technology, developing the next generation food-risk analysis system for Europe. It was delivered using web-based software, which was quite innovative at the time. This work became the genesis of Creme Global, which then subsequently evolved as a Trinity spin-out.
“Build your product as lean as possible, get something out onto the market, iterate and build on that.”
What was your first major project?
From a consumer and nutritional perspective, we were involved in an IBEC

Maeve Sheridan of Western Herd talks about brewing beer on a hilltop in Clare, the inspirational Irish food and drink scene and how mistakes make you stronger. Maeve will be the fireside chat guest at Founder Friday Clare in Ennis on Friday, September 22. It’s free to attend but you need to register here.
This is how we started
I was working in Luxembourg for a large American bank in risk and compliance. I lived there for nearly seven years, and with Germany and Belgium twenty minutes away in different directions, I was surrounded by great beer and loved trying new styles and regional varieties.  
Over a few beers at Christmas, my brother Michael suggested converting a haybarn on our family farm into a brewery. Michael, a civil engineer by trade, was managing a busy bar in Dublin after being made redundant from his engineering job during the recession and he could see how craft beers were growing in popularity.   
“There is something unique about brewing beer on a hilltop farm on the West coast of Ireland using fresh farm spring water.”
Our USP?
We noticed that there was no one in Clare brewing beer. Nearly every other county had a brewery in 2014, and with Clare’s growing reputation as a foodie destination and with over a million visitors to the county annually, there was a need for a locally produced beer.  
As well as being the only commercial brewer in Clare, there is something unique about brewing beer on a hilltop farm on the West coast of Ireland using fresh farm spring water as our main ingredient.
“We plan to open a visitor centre and tasting room so we can start running brewery tours and sell directly to the public from the farm.”
Funding the business and our growth plans
After seven years in Luxembourg, we