E180 That Great Business Show - OohPod expands further into N. Ireland, your way around Brexit - Akara robotics genius on her Leaving Cert results (and cracking the States)
E180 That Great Business Show with Conall O Móráin
John Tuohy of OohPod has just raised a further €5.4 million to expand his parcel locker business across Ireland and next to the UK. He has 120 locations at the moment and he wants to get to 300 in the next 12 months. Next he's going to help return items for online shopping companies.
His solution can help you get around those troublsome Brexit taxes. Buy in the UK. Ship to Jonesboro near Newry, collect and go home. Done. And all legal.
14% of the Republic's population go shopping in Northern Ireland. He's also working closely with Lidl and Tesco for space to place his parcel lockers. He talks PUDO as well. Listen and learn.
The BIG news is that OohPod has landed Philip Reynolds as chair. He's the former boss at C&D Foods, a business he sold to Larry Goodman.
And his 'hire in a heartbeat' is Rafal Brzoska.
Niamh Donnelly is co-founder of robotics company Akara. The lengths she has gone to to see how her robots are used, including spending 3 months in a US nursing home, watching how the residents interacted with her robot, and that included doing what the residents did - dinner at 8pm and off to bed at 10pm!
She's been working on her robot 'Violet' for the last three years, proving how effective 'Violet' is in cleaning medical facility rooms. The business is not about cutting out manual cleaners, but helping to turn around hospital beds much, much more quickly. They've already landed their first sale. Their Irish 'partner' at the moment is Donnybrook Hospital, where Niamh would like to live! There are two robots heading to NHS facilities in the coming weeks. The business is 'as a service', so clients don't buy the robots. After the UK, it's on to the vast US market, and maybe even an IPO. But first they need twenty hospitals to work with them.
Outside of health it seems that cannabis growers need UV cleaning for their products.
They have Enterprise Ireland backing and angel funding from Growing Capital. They're funding again, but not telling TeamGBS how much at the moment.
Her 'hire in a heartbeat', Liam Casey, CEO, PCH International.
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