Future Planet teams up with University College Cork

Future Planet's co-founder Donal Daly has been announced a partner in University College Cork's (UCC) new Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) programme.

Led by UCC Innovation, the EIR programme aims to promote and encourage entrepreneurial activity among UCC staff, students and graduates. UCC has developed and is nurturing an entrepreneurial ecosystem that aims to encourage, create and support 50 new ventures in the next two years.

Daly - who founded Future Planet in 2018 with Ingrid De Doncker - is among five experienced external entrepreneurs, who will broaden the entrepreneurial advice, mentorship and experience available to students, graduates and staff of the University who wish to launch or grow their new ventures.

UCC’s five Entrepreneurs in Residence will include:

• Donal Daly: Founder, CEO, and executive chairman of various technology and consulting companies with a keen interest in sustainability.
• Deirdre Mortell: founding CEO of Rethink Ireland, and a serial social entrepreneur
• Rick Livesey: Neuroscientist and scientific founder and CEO of Talisman Therapeutics.
• Liz Shanahan: Life sciences entrepreneur with extensive experience advising leading global pharmaceutical and healthcare organisations.
• Ray Alcorn: Engineer, and CEO at Exceedence Ltd and renewable energy business specialist.
  

Speaking at the launch, Prof John Cryan, Vice President for Research and Innovation at UCC said: “As part of UCC’s strategic goal of creating an innovation culture and entrepreneurial campus, we are thrilled to be launching our Entrepreneur in Residence programme. Many of our Entrepreneurs in Residence are leaders in the areas of sustainability and re-imagining and addressing the complex societal, environmental, and political challenges faced across the world – which are two key thematic areas of our ambitious UCC Futures programme. We look forward to working with them.”