Gavin Duffy, who launched resource management start-up Trigr from Galway just a few months ago, says his ambitious team is here to ‘go big or go home’.
When Gavin Duffy started an MBA course at Trinity College Dublin in 2020, he had one objective in mind: to research his start-up idea and learn how to get it off the ground.
After two years, Duffy emerged ready to launch Trigr – a resource planning platform on a mission to become the next Oracle or SAP but for media businesses.
“We enable media businesses to stay on track and on budget,” Duffy told SiliconRepublic.com. “Our platform allows companies in the media world to efficiently manage projects, budgets and suppliers – with the purpose to save operating costs by up to 9pc annually.”
Need to ‘culturally connect’ with media industry
Headquartered in Galway, but functioning with a remote team, Trigr launched just months ago to target businesses in the international media sector, including advertising, film, TV and music.
Duffy, who previously ran a PR agency in London, got the idea to start Trigr after he identified a clear gap in the market for a resource planning platform that “both culturally connects to the media industry and technically understands the workflows involved”.
“This is Trigr’s sweet spot,” he said. “Based on our conversations with 200-plus media agencies, the cultural gap was emphasised as a primary blocker to incumbent platforms such as Oracle or SAP.”
While Trigr is narrowing in on this niche, the market being targeted is still substantial – there are 6.4m media companies worldwide, according to Duffy, presenting a €44.8bn market value opportunity.
In the UK market alone, which Trigr is currently focused on, there are 115,000 applicable media companies. Of those, Duffy aims to secure just under 300 as clients by 2025.
“We are acutely aware that the media industry has time and time again been at the forefront of adopting software that has expanded far beyond their sector,” he said. But while focused on media companies for now, Trigr has its eyes on other markets for future business.
“Our team is incredibly ambitious and has already excelled in our individual careers to date – so, frankly, we are here to go big or go home.”
Duffy used his time at Trinity College Dublin as an opportunity to work on Trigr, while participating in accelerators and programmes such as Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers, NDRC and Back for Business.
“Every assignment I completed during the course was on Trigr and our target sectors, so to say I understand the problem we solve intimately is somewhat of an understatement!”
Since its launch in June, Trigr has brought on clients in the UK and Ireland. It has some “heavy lifters” in its pipeline such as Virgin Music and advertising agency TBWA, and also has partnerships with media trade bodies in Ireland and the UK, giving it access to a cohort of more than 1,200 prospects.
But the start-up has faced some hurdles in this time – particularly in terms of developing the right tech and finding suitable talent.
“The version of Trigr being used by customers now is the third iteration of the platform. I always found building the MVP in tech stacks like JavaScript to be heartbreakingly slow and using our new no-code tech has been a game changer,” Duffy said.
“We’ve had to let contractors go and hire and fire people within the space of a month,” he said of the challenge in finding talent. “Our team is made up of high achievers with intelligence, determination and grit and I would demand that combination of everyone who wants to join Trigr.”
Ireland’s ‘booming’ start-up scene
Even though Duffy sees the UK and later the US as focus markets for Trigr, Ireland provides a strong base for the start-up, which is now looking to raise €500,000 in a seed round from investors.
“The start-up scene in Ireland is booming I feel. It feels like now is an exciting time and there are more unicorns to come. We’re stepping up on the global stage and gradually shedding that self-deprecating attitude of the past,” he said.
“We are a Galway-registered company but with a remote team. A great thing about Ireland is our size, so with a remote team you’re likely never more than two or three hours away from each other for those regular times where you need some face-to-face time.”
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