Bill Liao and Declan Fox inducted into Entrepreneur Hall of Fame® 2012

26 April, 2012

26th April 2012 – The Entrepreneur Hall of Fame® recognises successful Entrepreneurs who have a vision to succeed and a passion to assist others. At the recent Entrepreneur Experience dinner Minister John Perry TD presented Bill Liao, SOSVentures and co-founder of CoderDojo, and Declan Fox, co-founder OmniVend with their induction to the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame®.

This award recognises the entrepreneurial vision, innovation, courage, and leadership which empowered them to build and grow successful businesses. It also acknowledges the incredible effort they have put back into the community and the time they have committed to working with start-ups, often without recognition or reward.

Bill Liao and Declan Fox

Speaking after receiving the award Bill LIAO, said that "The last award I won was a state science prize when I was 12 so I was totally stunned. What has touched me most was being so welcomed by the Irish entrepreneurial community. I was ‘Let’s all redouble our efforts to raise Ireland up!’"

Bill LIAO is dedicated to the vision that business and enterprise, both commercial and social, conducted fairly and with respect for the environment, can and will create a better environment for work, life and the world that we all share. Along with James Whelton, Bill is the Co-Founder of CoderDojo, a movement to assist young people to learn how to program. Bill has devoted a huge amount of time to helping start-ups having most recently started and IPO’d XING the European equivalent of LinkedIn.

Declan FOX, Serial entrepreneur, technologist, digital marketer and business coach, co-founded Comnitel Technologies in 1999 and grew the company from start-up. Comnitel later merged with a US Telco, and was acquired by IBM in 2007. Declan also is Co-Founder of OmniVend, with a key focus on next generation wireless, network management systems. He has worked tirelessly with start-ups with a focus on innovative technologies across different sectors.

“This award is very special coming from my peers and means a lot to me. There is a great buzz about working with start-ups, there’s something new every day. It has been a pleasure to cooperate with AxisBIC over the years, and I look forward to working with them on many more projects in the future” said Declan Fox of OmniVend.

The Entrepreneur Hall of Fame® is an elite group of men and women who have been recognised for their exceptional entrepreneurial achievements. The first Entrepreneurs inducted to the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame® in 2011 were Liam Casey of PCH International and Paul Hands of Raman Diagnostics.

“AxisBIC is proud to have worked with many outstanding entrepreneurs over the years and now we want to honour entrepreneurial excellence in business. We are particularly keen on recognising those Entrepreneurs who not only have succeeded but have given something substantive back to emerging Entrepreneurs” commented Michael O’Connor, CEO, AxisBIC.