The next Uber could be made in Cork.

Local startup RideShair has secured one of 16 coveted spots on Google’s Adopt a Startup Programme, which offers unparalleled advice and support during the early stages of building a business.

The brainchild of Cork entrepreneur Daniel Mulcahy, RideShair is a software platform that connects airline passengers and event attendees who can share taxis to and from 3,000 airports globally.

Over the next eight weeks the startups will undertake an intense programme of exclusive lectures and workshops with a team of passionate Googlers at Google’s EMEA Headquarters.

Each startup will focus on the four crucial stages of growth: Understanding Your Customer, Building Your Brand, Growing Globally and Scaling Your Organisation. Participants will benefit from support in topics such as Analytics and UX, pitching and networking, automation and machine learning and how best to plan for global growth.

At the end, each startup will have the chance to pitch their own unique ‘growth plan’ to a panel of select judges and win €10,000 in Google Ads credit and eligibility for the Google Cloud Programme, which includes $100,000 in Google Cloud Credit; not a bad start for a fledgling business.

Previous alumni who have gone on to expand into global markets include FoodCloud, Jobbio, Beats Medical and CoderDoJo, so watch this space.