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
| Best Business Idea | ||||
| Local Enterprise Office | Entrepreneur | Company | Description | Website |
| Kilkenny | Blaine Doyle | GlowDX | A diagnostics company that uses molecular science to provide a more economical method of diagnosing neglected tropical diseases. | Glowdx.com |
| Donegal | Niall McGonigle | McGonigle Industries | Designs medical products, specifically N-Tech - a medical device that will improve colostomy patients’ lives. | N/A |
| Waterford | Liam Sexton | Photo2Cad | A mobile app that allows users to convert images into fully-scaled CAD drawings through their smartphones. | Photo2cad.com |
| Galway |
Chris Murphy
|
Blue Drop Medical | Develops technology capable of remotely detecting and monitoring foot ulcers in patients with diabetes. | Bluedropmedical.com |
| Clare | Peter Hunt |
Piggyback |
Develops new technology for taxi drivers, which will improve workflow, manage fleet and optimise overall operations. | Getpiggyback.io |
| Louth |
Andrew Nadin
|
Dooskey Irish Whiskey | Distils a range of flavoured Irish Whiskies aimed at the young adult market, with a focus on innovation. | Dooskey.com |
| Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in Dublin | Curtis Moran |
Rook | A mobile app to provide location-based free access to e-Books for users. | Getrook.com |
| Kildare | Conor Devlin |
uHerrd | Software that enables journalists and bloggers to create and place opinion polls on their articles or websites. | Uherrd.com |
| Best Start Up Business | ||||
| Local Enterprise Office | Entrepreneur | Company | Description | Website |
| Carlow | Diarmuid Byrne |
EquiRatings | Equestrian data analytics company for national and international clients in the sport of eventing. | EquiRatings.com |
Longford |
Niall Mimnagh |
Mimergy Ltd | Develops sustainable technology which converts waste tyres into valuable commodities, such as fuels and chemicals. | Mimergy.com |
| South Cork | James Foody | Ayda | A wearable fertility tracker for women, worn during sleep to pinpoint their exact basal body temperature. | Ayda.co |
| Mayo | Daniel Loftus | Urban Fox | A mobile app that helps marketing teams analyse customer and behavioural data more efficiently. | Urbanfox.ie |
Tipperary |
Philip Martin |
Blanco Nino | Europe’s first authentic gluten-free corn tortilla manufacturer for the food service and retail sectors. | Blanco-nino.com |
| Louth | Mark Reilly |
Aphix Software | Software for the warehousing industry, delivering real-time stock and pricing information to sales representatives and customers. | Aphixsoftware.com |
| Dublin City | Isolde Johnson |
The Cool Bean Company | A consumer food brand which includes a range of healthy, nutritious, gluten-free bean meals in a pot. | Coolbeans.ie |
| Kildare | David Carey | Nutraplenish | A lifestyle nutrition company, manufacturing healthy food and drink products for the retail sector. | Nutraplenish.com |
| Best Established Business | ||||
| Local Enterprise Office | Entrepreneur | Company | Description | Website |
| Wicklow | James Keogh |
Rathwood | A retail entertainment company with over 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, outdoor activities with a year-round events schedule for families. | Rathwood.com |
| Leitrim | Jennifer Wyrnne | Jennifer Wyrnne Ltd | A milliner within the fashion industry, designing and creating high quality, hand -crafted hats and head pieces. | Jenniferwrynne.com |
| Waterford | Eddy Lynch |
Suir Sprayers | A company that specialises in the testing, selling and servicing of sprayer parts nationwide, for the horticultural and agricultural sectors. | Suirsprayers.ie |
| Roscommon | Oz Ibrahmi |
Hex CNC | A product research and development company for the medical sector, specialising in CNC machines (computer numerical control). | Hexcnc.com |
| Limerick | Mark Sheahan | Recycle Right | A waste collection and recycling business for households, which uses innovative software solutions. | Recycleright.ie |
| Cavan | Alicia Treanor | Nutri-Snax Ltd | Develops, manufactures and distributes a range of nutritious, healthy snacks and biscuits for the food sector. | Nutrisnax.ie |
| Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in Dublin | Peter Roberts | Roberts of Dalkey | Wholesaler and retailer of fresh Irish seafood, with four retail locations. | |
| Kildare | Tim Dunleavy |
Dunleavy Bespoke | Design and create contemporary handcrafted furniture and interiors, exported worldwide. | Dunleavybespoke |