Poppulo founder named Cork's Tech Person of the Year

/ 4th November 2022 /

Andrew O’Shaughnessy, founder of Poppulo, has been named Tech Person of the Year at Cork’s 2022 Leaders Awards, held in person for the first time since 2019.

The organisers of the Rochestown Park Hotel event said O’Shaughnessy was recognised for his pioneering work in founding and scaling the employee communications platform and for his role in developing legislation and best practice for the tech industry.

Poppulo is owned by SmartSpace Global, a subsidiary of Four Winds Interactive in Denver.

Founded in 2005, FWI is the leading enterprise software company for building, deploying and managing digital signage, interactive kiosk applications, and resource scheduling applications.

In April 2021 FWI took control of the Cork business, which had been established by O'Shaughnessy in 1996 and initially traded as Newsweaver.

Turnover at Poppulo operating company E-search DAC increased to €37.3m in 2021 from €24.4m the year before. Net cash from operating activities improved to €3m from €1.3m in 2020.

O'Shaughnessy (58) resigned as a director of the company in May 2022.

The awards were hosted by it@cork and KerrySciTech, who announced their rebranding as a combined entity to Tech Industry Alliance, representing the interests of the tech sector across the region.

Award sponsors included it@cork Skillnet, Deloitte, RDJ, Fexco, Trend Micro, Cork Smart Gateway, KPMG, Cork City Council, Springboard Communications, Cork County Council, Enterprise Ireland, and the Kinsale Spirit Company.

it@cork is one of Ireland’s most established and connected technology clusters, representing over 200 tech and tech enabled companies in the South-West. The organisation works with academia, industry, local government, and state agencies to provide networking, upskilling and collaboration opportunities.

KerrySciTech is a not-for-profit member organisation showcasing the Kerry region as a science, technology and engineering hotspot for talent, jobs and investment. Membership spans 70 start-ups, SMEs, multinationals, incubation centres and digital hubs.

Left to right: Manjit Gill of KerrySciTech, Sarah McGrath, minister Michael McGrath, Donagh Kiernan of it@cork, and Gillian Bergin. (Pic: Gerard McCarthy)

Gillian Bergin, it@cork chairperson and Dell executive, commented: “Tonight’s finalists and winners not only represent the highest standards and technological innovations, but also the courage and commitment of our members every day to the region and sector.

“It’s our mission to shine a light on the technology, business and innovative contributions across the South-West. Under our new name, Tech Industry Alliance, we will leverage our collective knowledge, experience and networks to the benefit of our members.”