Lucinda Kelly’s company Popertee was started in November 2015. Its aim is to ‘reinvent the rules of pop-ups’.
Having spent over four years working with Paddy Power, Lucinda Kelly took the leap into entrepreneurship with Popertee, a company that aims to re-invent the pop-up shop for brands and consumers.
Watching in admiration as Airbnb spread across the globe, Kelly was determined to see what other opportunities existed in the shared economy.
“My dad’s background is in retail (FX Kelly’s on Grafton Street) and commercial property, so I’m familiar with both sectors. The idea for Popertee was inspired by Airbnb, but has developed since we started validating the concept in the market. We connect marketing agencies and brands with vacant retail spaces and properties.”
Not one but three accelerators
In what was a probably a first in Ireland, Popertee and Kelly were accepted onto three of Ireland’s most high-profile accelerators, including the prestigious NDRC Launchpad.
“It was hectic, a very busy period for us, but it proved invaluable,” says Kelly. “NDRC, in particular, was very useful; it pushed us to validate our product in the market before we put any money into development.”
Popertee is already working with some big brand names on innovative projects. “We work with marketing agencies and their brands and give them access to high footfall spaces in unique locations. For example, we recently worked with the beer brand Peroni and Dame Lane on The House of Peroni project.” (Pictured left and above).
Kelly says Ireland is the test bed to further develop Popertee’s business model.
“Out ambition is to go international and we are already in talks with agencies and brands in the UK. The US is also a big target market for us; they do things on a different scale over there and it’s where we want to be by 2018.”
Images from Lucinda Kelly. Main image features model January Russell at the launch of The House of Peroni.
