Sonru Takes Winning Spot at Innovate!2010 Dublin Pitch Slam(TM) Event

SAN FRANCISCO and DUBLIN, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 8th, Dublin played host to the third 'Pitch Slam' event for Innovate!2010. Produced by Guidewire Group, the world's leading analyst firm focused exclusively on startups and emerging markets, the goal of the Innovate!2010 global competition is to identify and promote the world's top 100 technology startups – the Innovate!100.

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The Innovate!2010 Dublin Pitch Slam, hosted by Microsoft BizSpark and Enterprise Ireland, was won by Sonru, a company founded by an Irish entrepreneur who spotted an opportunity to save people money during the interview process. Sonru is an automated online video tool used in recruitment, education and training.

The Pitch Slam in Dublin is one of over 20 regional events in the Innovate!2010 competition that will span across Europe and the United States. At each Pitch Slam, startups are evaluated by a panel of expert judges using Guidewire Group's G/Score™, a market-leading assessment methodology that has been proven as a reliable predictor of startup viability and promise.  By winning top honors at the Dublin Pitch Slam, Sonru guaranteed itself a spot on the Innovate!100 list for 2010.

Innovate!2010 partners with companies like Alacatel-Lucent, BestBuy, Cisco Systems, Comcast, EMC, HP, HSBC, IBM, LG Electronics, Microsoft, O2 Litmus, PayPal, RIM, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Sony and Verizon and serves as a platform for these corporations to quickly identify and partner with high-potential startups.

The full schedule, up-to-the-minute Pitch Slam news and content, including videos from the event, can be found at www.Innovate100.com.

Congratulations also goes to the Dublin Pitch Slam semi-finalists: EventElephant (runner-up), GetitKeepit.com (runner-up), CloudSplit, Diaryplan.com, ProductFul, Iceberg, Nvolve Limited, Staff Balance Ltd and Xyndi Ltd. These companies remain in the running to be named to the Innovate!100 list and to compete for a share of over $1M in Innovate! Challenge prizes of cash and in-kind awards.

About Innovate!2010

Innovate!2010 is a global competition to identify and promote the top 100 global technology startups. The program enables the most promising startups to gain access to resources and opportunities to accelerate the growth of their companies. Innovate!2010 also enables its partners, including technology and telecommunications vendors, government agencies, professional services providers, technology scouts and investors, to identify and engage hundreds of highly vetted, fast-growing startups and raise their brand profile in the global startup community. Innovate!2010 sponsors and partners include leading organizations like Alacatel-Lucent, BestBuy, Cisco Systems, Comcast, DifferenceEngine, EMC, HP, HSBC, Hearst, IBM, LaPoste, LG Electronics, Microsoft, O2 Litmus, PWC, Quickstart Global, PayPal, RIM, SAP, Silicon Valley Bank, Sun Microsystems, Sony, SWIFT, Turner Broadcasting, Verizon, and the City of Zaragoza; as well as European and US economic development agencies, and dozens of leading angel and venture capital investors.

About Guidewire Group, Inc.  

Guidewire Group is a global market intelligence and advisory firm passionate about technology entrepreneurship. Our exclusive focus on early-stage companies and emerging technology markets drives insight and opportunity to our clients and community. At the heart of our offerings is the G/Score™, a proprietary assessment tool that brings clarity and focus to the art of transforming ideas into successful enterprises. Developed over the course of more than 20,000 startup interviews, the G/Score has proven a reliable predictor of startup viability and promise. Our G/Score data helps technology investors, customers and platform vendors rapidly qualify and respond to startup deal flow from even thousands of startups. Our G/Score assessment tools help startups, investors, service providers and government agencies to identify and benchmark competitive strengths and weaknesses, and our Studio G business acceleration programs helps startups achieve their growth objectives with clarity of purpose, speed and efficiency.

For more information, contact Vanessa McDonald, [email protected], +44 (0)754 032 5319.

SOURCE Guidewire Group, Inc.