Patch

In the summer of 2023, my life changed completely. What happened? Patch did. Patch is an 8 week long summer programme in Dublin that supports 16-21 year olds to work on something cool and ambitious. So there I was at 16 completely in over my head, packing my bags to move half away across the country for 8 weeks to have the chance to work on something cool. During patch, I helped co-found Induct. It was one of the best experiences of my life and fundamentally changed my perspective on the world. I learned so much from my time there. Beyond the professional benefits of building software and learning the ropes of navigating an early stage startup. I gained confidence in myself and my abilities to deliver something meaningful. Skills I've brought forward long past my time in Patch/Induct In my opinion, Patch's biggest strength is the community you are apart of. The help I received from that network is truly invaluable and the friends I made during that experience are some of the most important people in my life. Patches benefits far extend the program, since leaving I've: - Began studying Immersive Software Engineering in UL - Received a Myriad of grants for projects like Induct and my own robotic arm, Merge Club - Been flown over to Toronto for the 1517 conference where I met an international group of builders and made some great friends (shoutout to Sasha Przybylski 💯 ) - Made friends for life, who have helped me with tremendously and whom I routinely spend weekends with in Galway when I'm having a rough time, John Denny and Evan Wynne. - Spent the last month travelling the US tech spaces like SF and NYC, where I learned a tremendous amount about myself and the world around me. All this stemmed from a singular catalyst event, getting into the patch 2023 cohort. In all of those things that I have listed patch played a pivotal part in me finding out about the opportunity but also in getting it. So I urge anyone aged 16-21 to apply, change the trajectory of your life. Application: https://www.joinpatch.org/

Patch applications for 2025 are officially open! Patch is a summer programme that supports 16-21 year olds to work on something cool and ambitious. Patch covers accommodation, food, and a small weekly stipend so you can just focus on building! And you’ll be building alongside future founders, creators, and innovators who push you to think bigger I really enjoyed being a participant in Patch 2024! Patch is a 7 week tech course held in Dogpatch Labs, Dublin, for 16-21 year olds to develop new tech or business based projects. During Patch I learned a lot, particularly in the area of hardware thanks to my teams project- Robot Patch Dog. I met many interesting people and made a lot of good friends, and most importantly had a lot of fun!! Apply now at joinpatch.org ! Anita Blanchfield Patch Mark Healy

Nice shout-out for Patch in 'The Week in Irish Startups'. Applications are now open for our 2025 summer accelerator: https://lnkd.in/ecfrhf_d

Meet the Patch 2024 Fellows! In July, we piloted our first ever Fellowship programme, taking 10 phenomenal young builders to San Francisco for 10 days. Our aim was to accelerate their careers and raise their ambitions by immersing them in the SF startup scene. The pilot was a success: the Fellows are overwhelmingly more likely to spend time in SF going forward, each has built a network of their own in SF and they have bigger, more concrete ambitions & plans. “The problems being worked on were generally much bigger than the ones tackled in Ireland, and it made me feel incredibly motivated about technology and about my own future.” Hats off to Finn, Naomi, Daniel, Justyna, Will, Samir, Surabhi, Alan, Peter and Leo for really leaning in and making the most of the experience. Huge thanks to Tyler Cowen (Emergent Ventures), Finn Murphy and Emma Waldron Chen for making the Fellowship possible!

Alumni spotlight: great write-up on Field of Vision's device to help visually impaired fans “feel” the action at live games. Congrats Omar, David and Tim!

Know a 4th, 5th or 6th year student working on cool project? Send them our way: www.jointecs.org

“Build a startup and have fun while you’re doing it.” Well, three months after Patch, and here I am, wondering if we’ve taken the “fun” part a bit too literally with the amount of CartShare sh*tposts 😂. Patch has been more than just an accelerator—it’s been a whirlwind of fun, endless caffeine, and a fair share of “wait, that’s actually possible?!” moments. I’ve met brilliant people, been given incredible opportunities, and somehow learned a thing or two in between all the coffee runs and late nights. It’s been a rollercoaster summer, and honestly, I wouldn’t trade a single chaotic second of it. Thanks to Mark Healy and Anita Blanchfield for leading such an amazing program—and for putting up with us. Thanks for opening doors, pushing boundaries, and creating memories that probably belong in a start-up sitcom.

September highlights from the Patch alumni community 🙌 - Fareed Idris wowed the 300+ crowd at the NDRC Demo Day with his pitch for Kreoh, an AI engine for R&D tax consultants. Well done Fareed, Garry Tiscovschi and David McSharry! - Maura Moore-McCune was awarded a Gold Medal Award and Best in Category Award at South Africa's Eskom Expo for Young Scientists - Seán O'Sullivan was awarded the second place prize and the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair Prize at the EU Contest for Young Scientists in Poland.

Thanks John Collison for taking the time to chat with some Patch teams about the products they built! Can we lure you back for the full Patch Showcase next summer? Well done Keith Salhani & Liam Fuller (from CartShare), Donna Mae Quinto (from DiverseForce), and Ellen Quigley & Seán O'Sullivan (from ForceField) for representing the programme so well! Watch this space for updates on their products.