Liam O'Kelly, the founder of AirSpeed Telecom, was a happy chappie this week after winning the Entrepreneur of the Year gong at the European Business Awards in Athens.
The judges for the event included a host of European politicos and business figures, including Yves Leterme, the former Belgian prime minister who was in Dublin recently wearing his OECD hat.
About 17,000 companies entered the awards, with four Irish companies making it to Athens across all the categories. The Irish finalists, which included Agile Networks (customer focus category) and the Irish Dairy Board (import/export category), all received a Ruban d’Honneur, if you please.
AirSpeed, which provides business broadband services countrywide, notably in rural parts of the country such as the Aran Islands, beat off competition from 17 other finalists to win the entrepreneur category.
“There was one guy from Denmark who had invented a sort of scarf that doubles as an airbag if you fall, and I was sure he’d win it,” said O’Kelly.
The company has an interesting sideline in Livelinx, a joint venture with Digital Space, which provides on-demand wireless broadcasting services to RTÉ and TV3.
Livelinx installed do-it-yourself fixed-camera positions in some of the main Dublin brokerages – Merrion, Davy and Investec – which the brokers use to deliver analysis packages to RTÉ without the need for a camera crew.
Livelinx's services have also been required to help broadcasters during major events such as elections. It was also called into action during the visits in 2011 of Queen Elizabeth and US president Barack Obama. Airspeed has unlimited status, so doesn't reveal its financial secrets. But O'Kelly and one of his partners invested €3 million in one of its entities recently. Self-belief is always a good thing.