Another husband and wife team behind a recent startup are Richard Kelly and Maggie Leonard. Two years ago the couple established Smorgasboard, a food-themed board game that retails for €30 and has sold over 5,000 units.

Richard has worked in various account management and advisory roles over the last 14 years while Maggie Leonard (35) is a primary school teacher. The venture was funded with €8,500 sourced from crowdfunding website Fund It. “That covered half of the cost of the first print run with Hasbro Ireland. The balance of the capital came from ourselves,” says Richard.

The game involves players taking on the guise of aspiring chefs, then progressing around the board by tackling food-related questions and puzzles. “Access to finance through traditional routes proved difficult and market industry experts advised us that our game was too niche,” says Richard. “But there is a resurgence in board games that is down to nostalgia, value for money and possibly the hipster scene. We also piggyback on the current appetite for celebrity chefs and food culture generally.”

Having come up with the concept, the manufacture was sub-contracted to Hasbro and distribution is handled by Eurobase in Waterford. The game is stocked in Avoca, Easons, Brown Thomas and elsewhere, and UK retailer John Lewis is trying it out in 44 stores from July. Richard says the biggest challenge is trying to get in front of the buyers of the large multiples. “It took over a year of chasing down buyers to secure the John Lewis deal,” he says.

In Association with

The founders are now developing a junior version of Smorgasboard and considering developing the idea for the iOS and Android app markets.