3D visualisation venture Von Bismark, founded by Eoghan O’Sullivan, has raised an additional €175,000 in equity investment.
Eoghan O'Sullivan (33) studied multimedia in DCU and after graduating he helped set up a digital agency, Pixel Lab. This was located in Cork and was involved in the creation of Tender3D, an online 3D content marketplace.
Pixel Lab was wound down in 2009 to make way for Tender3D, but its successor only lasted till 2011, when it closed down too.
Undeterred, the entrepreneur set up Von Bismark in the same year. “The inspiration was the Microsoft Kinect camera, which was an amalgamation of a number of fields I was passionate about. I wanted to use this to create a new platform for public engagements in advertising and retail,” says O'Sullivan (pictured).
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Von Bismark's first product release came in March 2013 in the form of a virtual 'wardrobe' that users can control by gestures, allowing them to try on outfits and share pictures of themselves suited and booted.
“Our engagement levels were off the charts in public spaces like shopping centres and we secured contracts with Cadbury's, AIB, UPC, Done Deal and Vodafone,” says O'Sullivan
Not the least of O'Sullivan's achievements is securing funding for his company. His first leg-up was in the National Digital Research Centre.
“I got on the programme on the strength of my business idea and my pitch. I used a €20,000 investment from the NDRC to bring on some talented coders and launch our first trial in Liffey Valley shopping centre.”
Von Bismark's accounts for 2012 disclose equity invested of €172,000 and losses of €195,000. Advised by Anne Brady McQuillans DFK, in July 2013 the company received €100,000 investment from a Cyprus-registered company called Parabeaux Ltd. This leveraged €75,000 from Enterprise Ireland, bring total capital raised since inception to €350,000.
In October 2014, O'Sullivan repeated the trick, securing another €100,000 from Parabeuax and and additional €75,000 from Enterprise Ireland.
Von Bismark is one of only a dozen global Microsoft Kinect development partners. The software giant encourages startups with its London-based accelerator programme Ventures, as well as Bizspark, which offers young tech companies discounted use of Microsoft's Office and productivity tools.
Says O'Sullivan: “We really believe that the high street is going to undergo a fundamental change over the next few years. Retailers' costs are too high and having to stock their entire inventory all of the time is killing their bottom line. We aim to revolutionise the sector by bringing e-commerce in store.”
