For this year’s competition, young Irish people who have emigrated in recent years were encouraged to apply, with a view to setting up their businesses in Ireland. Applications were received from forty young Irish entrepreneurs, based in countries such as the USA, UK, Italy, Canada and the United Arab Emirates. Two of this year’s international applicants have made it through to December’s national final at Google’s European Headquarters in Dublin.

Launched in May this year by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister Richard Bruton and supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the nationwide competition forms part of the Action Plan for Jobs, with a total €2million fund available to county winners and overall national winners, who each can win a total of up to €70,000 investment in their business.

Affordable diagnostics for neglected tropical diseases, a mobile app for e-Books and a medical device for bowel cancer patients are among the eight ideas shortlisted in the ‘Best Business Idea’ category.

Meanwhile, a wearable fertility tracker for women, healthy convenient foods and an equestrian data analytics company all made the final eight in the ‘Best Start Up Business’ category.

The final eight in the ‘Best Established Business’ category feature a fashion milliner, speciality retailers and a furniture-maker.

The three category winners all have a chance to be crowned Ireland’s overall ‘Best Young Entrepreneur’, sharing the €100,000 national final investment fund.

Further updates about ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ and YouTube videos for each of the national finalists are available through www.ibye.ie or by searching #ibye on social media.

The official IBYE channel on YouTube is https://www.youtube.com/user/IBYEire. Videos generated by many of the finalists showcasing their businesses are available at this link.

Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition is run by the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) in the Local Authorities Network, and the winners at county level are eligible for an investment in their business of up to €20,000, while the winners at national level can receive an additional investment of up to €50,000. Winners of individual categories can also win additional investments in their businesses.

Mentoring, marketing and other supports are also available to participating businesses at various stages of the competition. The competition is open to individuals aged 30 and under and will be judged under three distinct categories:
·        Best Business Idea (best idea for a new business)
·        Best Start-Up Business (in business for up to 24 months or less)
·        Best Established Business (in business for longer than 24 months).

The first stage was a county-based competition (run by the 31 LEOs) which led to the naming of the Best Young Entrepreneur in each county. This stage also included bootcamps and mentoring programmes. This was followed by eight regional finals. At the national final, one businessperson will be crowned Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur.

National Finalists: Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneurs 2015