THE MAN credited with inventing the term "cloud computing" is to replace presidential candidate Seán Gallagher on Dragons' Den.
Irish-American Sean O’Sullivan is arguably the richest of all the dragons to date who have taken part in the RTÉ series. He has been responsible for several multi-million dollar start-up companies, including MapInfo, the company which pioneered mapping for the internet.
In 1996, Mr O’Sullivan’s company NetCentric coined the expression “cloud computing” but it is only now that it has come in to common parlance.
Mr O’Sullivan’s latest venture, Avego Corporation, is expanding its base in Kinsale. Last December, Avego, which has pioneered technology for car pooling, said it was taking on 35 people over the next three years.
His venture capital arm, SOSventures, has invested an undisclosed amount in the Dublin-based technology news site Siliconrepublic.com and also Mark Little’s company Storyful.
Like many American-born entrepreneurs, Mr O’Sullivan has a diverse CV. He founded a rock band, obtained a master’s degree in film production and lived in Baghdad at the height of the latest war as the founder of a non-governmental charity JumpStart, which reconstructs homes.
From Boston, Mr O’Sullivan earned his primary electrical engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic in Troy, New York, and a master’s of fine arts in film production in the University of Southern California.
He is the chairman and co-founder of the O’Sullivan Foundation, which has given millions of dollars annually to a variety of causes dedicated to economic development.
He is a licensed helicopter pilot and a member of the National Academy of Popular Music. He joins existing dragons Norah Casey, Gavin Duffy, Bobby Kerr and Niall O’Farrell on the new series.
