ISLYE mobility: Rhizome start-up co-founders visited Maynooth University 

From 20 to 27 September, Leipzig University’s start-up founders of Rhizome visited Maynooth University to gain insights about the Irish market. 

Rhizome is a web application start-up that provides a digital business process for co-creative decision-making. It enables efficient decision processes that enhance both organisational performance and employee satisfaction.

Equipped with a fully functional prototype of their decision-making platform, the co-founders of Rhizome took this opportunity to study the Irish market and test their hypothesis that decision-making in businesses is neglected in non-German markets, to explore if their own scientifically developed method can be of interest for potential international customers. 

To gain insights, the co-founders engaged with local stakeholders from business and research.

Through discussions with Paul Heynen and Michael Hanley from the Innovation Value Institute, they were introduced to the IT Capability Maturity Framework (IT-CMF), a tool that supports organisations in making informed decisions and operating in a consistent and effective way. The methodological exchanges on information flow and organisational requirements for collaboration contributed to a clearer understanding of decision-making processes.

As part of their stay, the team attended the County Kildare Chamber of Commerce, which held its regional meeting in Maynooth on September 24. This was the perfect opportunity for the Rhizome co-founders to get a more realistic impression of the challenges that small and medium enterprises in the south-western urban hinterland of Dublin are facing.

During the same period, the team met Justin Gleeson, Director of the All-Island Research Observatory and Technical Manager for spatial projects at NIRSA, as well as Director of People&Place. Thanks to this exchange, they gained insights from the experience of Justin, a person who is a scholar and an entrepreneur at the same time. 

In addition, the co-founders also engaged with Brian Slattery, Co-Founder and CEO of Wrky, who shared insights into the Irish entrepreneurial ecosystem and the requirements that new work-oriented technology companies need to meet in order to succeed.

Concluding this mobility during their last night, the co-founders of Rhizoma got the opportunity to attend the Furthr initiative’s monthly Pitch Jam at the Guinness Enterprise Centre, allowing them to get a glimpse into the local start-up scene. 

During this event, selected Furthr participants got the opportunity to pitch their ideas and enterprises to a jury of experts and VC representatives who provided feedback to them. 

This event not only showcased innovative ideas primarily aimed at the Irish market, but also allowed the Rhizome co-founders to network with these start-ups afterwards. 

This visit was possible thanks to the Arqus ISLYE (International Soft Landing for Young Entrepreneurs) programme. This initiative offers young entrepreneurs the opportunity to do a mobility to any Arqus University (University of Granada, University of Graz, Leipzig University, University of Lyon 1, Maynooth University, University of Padua, Vilnius University, and University of Wroclaw), linking them to their local universities incubators and accelerators, to get them in contact with potential clients, suppliers and business partners.