Empowering Entrepreneurs
Brave & Bold
IDEATE Ireland provides a unique opportunity for third-level students and graduates to put entrepreneurship principles into practice. So whether you go on to win a cash prize, advance your new venture idea, or take advantage of the learning and apply it in your career, we promise that the competition will be a dynamic, challenging and enriching experience.
Meet The 2024 Cohort
Competition
CASH PRIZES
€7K
Second Runner-Up
Our purpose is simple, to accelerate you through the early-stage of venture development with a set of repeatable tools and skills to give your start-up the best possible kick-start.
Eligibility
- The Competition is open to undergraduates, post-graduates, recent graduates (two years or less), and researchers from third-level institutes, universities and research centres on the island of Ireland.
- Teams should be resident on the island of Ireland at the time of application.
- Teams should be at the pre-investment stage, i.e., have not taken equity investment at the date of application.
- Specifically, we are looking for three things:
- An individual or a team; with
- An innovative product, service or technology; and
- Global scalability to achieve international sales and create employment.
Confidentiality
The only individuals who will have access to your application are Ideate Ireland assigned evaluators who have agreed to maintain confidentiality on all submissions. IP resides with the promoter and participating team. Note that a short description of your idea may, with your permission, be used in public documentation relating to the Competition. As members of the Ideate Ireland community, students agree to abide by our shared values of honesty, integrity, respect for others and accountability for personal behaviour.
Selection Criteria
All applications are reviewed by multiple experts who then recommend up to ten teams to proceed to the next stage of the Competition.
Evaluation criteria are as follows:
- Has the problem or opportunity been clearly defined?
- Is there an understanding of the target customer?
- Is there a large, global market?
- Can competitive advantage be created?
- What is the business model?
- What are the complementary skills and experience of the team?
- What progress has been made to date?
- Can the team make meaningful progress in 3 months?
Shortlisted teams will be announced on Thursday, 26 March 2026
If an idea is not selected to proceed, we are happy to schedule a call to offer feedback and direction to other start-up supports.
Benefits
All finalists receive:
- Detailed feedback from VC’s, entrepreneurs and industry experts.
- Access to Ideate Ireland Alumni Network.
- Complimentary hot desk space at The Guinness Enterprise Centre in Dublin and The Ormeau Baths in Belfast.
- Complimentary access to Happy Scribe.
- Ideate Ireland badge to display on a website.
2026 Timeline
2025 Finalists
Past Finalists
2017 - 2025
- AAPTA GUT GENIUS+
- Advanced Analytics Labs
- AgriNaviTech
- Alpaca Bio
- Amara Therapeutics
- ANESTRONIC
- ArrayPatch
- Aurora
- Better Examinations (acquired)
- Bionics
- Carbon Harvesters
- Change Donations
- Clean Kicks
- Connect the Dots
- Cotter Agritech
- Darwin + Goliath
- DigiAcademy
- Easesecure
- Equine MediRecord
- EO Medical
- FemmeBiome
- Genshield-AI
- Giyst
- Gran Lab
- Happy Scribe
- Indiecom
- jumpAgrade
- Kids Speech Labs
- Kookease
- LEP Biomedical
- Lion’s Reign
- Luminate Medical
- Machine Eye
- MetHealth
- MyClinic365
- Neurobell
- Neuropause Medical
- NeutroPredict
- NuPitch
- NutraTreat
- OpinionX
- Peckish
- pHetalSafe
- PolyBo
- PPE
- Re-CoLi
- RegenoMac
- Renovate Pharma
- Safecility
- SeamlessCARE
- Sensi
- Shergard
- Shirt in a Box
- Signal Optimiser
- Siler Technology
- Sision Medical
- SMARTProbe
- Sula Health
- VioFeel
- Vocalynx
- Whispr.AI/Lua (acquired by Beekeeper)
- Wild Thinkers
- Wonky Woolins
- Zendra Health
Become Ireland’s Next BIG Thing!
Application Process
- Applications open on Tuesday, 10 February 2026 and close on Friday, 20 March 2026 at noon.
- Individuals/teams should be available to participate in all workshops.
- Applications are considered on a competitive basis.
- All IP resides with the promoter and team.
Application Instructions
- Applications must be submitted using the online link by the closing date and time.
- Please be as succinct as you can and respect the suggested wordcount.
Tips & Advice
- We accept everything from early-stage to more developed concepts so we strongly suggest that you submit an application.
- You do not have to have set up a company to make an application.
- You can have received grant assistance but should not have taken any equity investment in the idea.
Workshops Schedule
The competition is a blend of in-person and online workshops. The in-person sessions will be held at the Guinness Enterprise Centre, Taylor’s Lane, Dublin, D08 VP48. Please ensure you are available to attend all scheduled sessions if selected as a finalist.
The schedule for 2026 is as follows:
| DATE | ACTIVITY | DELIVERY |
| Summer 2025 | Expressions of interest open | Online (21 EOIs received to date) |
| Tuesday 10-Feb-26 | Opening date for applications | Online |
| Friday 20-Mar-26 | Closing date for applications | Online |
| Thursday 26-Mar-26 | Shortlist announcement | Online |
| Tuesday 14-Apr-26 | Workshop 1: Orientation, Team Building and Expectations | In Person |
| Tuesday 21-Apr-26 | Workshop 2: Problem Framing | Online |
| Tuesday 28-Apr-26 | Workshop 3: Customer Discovery | Online |
Break week for customer discovery activity
| DATE | ACTIVITY | DELIVERY |
| Tuesday 12-May-26 | Workshop 4: Value Proposition | Online |
| Tuesday 19-May-26 | Workshop 5: Market Sizing | Online |
| Tuesday 26-May-26 | Workshop 6: Presentation Skills | Online |
| Tuesday 02-Jun-26 | Workshop 7: Business Road-Mapping | Online |
| Tuesday 09-Jun-26 | Mentor Sessions (graphic design / pitch script) | Online |
| Tuesday 16-Jun-26 | Workshop 8: Practice Pitch and Feedback | In Person |
| Tuesday 23-Jun-26 | Ideate Ireland Showcase | In Person |
Entrepreneur Feedback
When asked what our greatest learning was, we answered EVERYTHING.
It challenged every assumption we had, and forced us to put the customer at the centre of what we did and why we did it.
If you want to stress test your business idea and make an honest go/no-go decision this is the right forum for you.
A stand out for me was the quality of the information provided.
The personal one-on-one contact is a real stand out strength to what made this programme so valuable.
The stage tasks were a tough test for the validity of our business idea.
Having such brilliant and supportive mentoring has helped us stay true to our vision.
Hearing from people who have had success and shared their experiences is invaluable.
We added a group of quality start-ups and entrepreneurs to our network.
Fascinating guest talks and general advice in terms of road mapping.
You will get further in 8 weeks than you could in 8 months on your own.
Empowering Entrepreneurs
We believe that “a job is the best social philanthropy anyone can provide, and that every job starts with an entrepreneur”. Ideate Ireland is our way of supporting new ideas emerging from third-level institutions on the island of Ireland.
Founding Team
William (Bill) S. McKiernan, whose grandfather hailed from Leitrim, is currently the President of WSM Capital LLC, a private equity fund focused on payment related businesses.
Cian O’Flaherty is an entrepreneur, who began his current start-up Safecility as a member of the 2018 BPC cohort. A native of Kerry, Cian has grown Safecility in the Smart Building sector since 2019.
Danny Moore, based in Belfast, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Options Technology, the number one provider of IT infrastructure to global Capital Markets firms, and is responsible for leading the firm's day-to-day global operations.
David Moffitt, Dublin, is currently CEO of Kayfoam Woolfson. David began his career as a General Management Trainee with Smurfit Kappa and subsequently became the Irish Director of R.R. Donnelley before establishing Tech Group Europe.
Helen Fullen, hailing from County Down, is an internationally recognised expert in early-stage entrepreneurial venture development and the architect of a robust pre-accelerator programme model.
Steering Group
Aviva Cohen
SeamlessCare
André Bastié
Laura Malone
MyClinic365
Brendan Digney
Shona D'Arcy
Kids Speech Labs
Brendan Staunton
Tara Gibney
Daniel Kyne
Opinion X
Rebecca Dillon
Merim Džaferagić
Nearby
Joanne O'Dwyer
Alejandro Vergara
Carbon Harvesters
Eimear O’Hara
Nathan Misischi
Lewis Loane
Funders
Ideate Ireland is generously underwritten through philanthropic donations and corporate sponsorship.
In-Kind Sponsors
We are committed to enhance cooperation, connection and mutual understanding on the island of Ireland and to engage with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared passion for entrepreneurship and new venture development.
Academic Partners
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Culture
Our Vision
Our Mission
Our Values
We are guided by key values in our mission to support entrepreneurs and innovation.
Optimism
We are driven by the power of ideas to change the world.
Passion
We are as excited and ambitious about our entrepreneurs’ projects as they are.
Inclusivity
We know great ideas can come from anyone and anywhere, and we are open to all.
Integrity
We do the right thing, do our best, and tell it as it is.
Discipline
We use a rigorous entrepreneurship methodology designed for sustainable results.
Knowledge
We are always learning and refining our approach to share with future cohorts.
Growth
We support an entrepreneur-led journey of personal and professional growth.
Community
We cultivate long-term relationships and share our collective networks.
Generosity
We give back and pay it forward to make the journey easier for all.
Your Brand
The brand icon represents pathways, showing the different avenues that arise from engaging with Ideate Ireland to achieve your vision. This pinpoints an entrepreneur in a certain direction, with diverse options to success—helping you along on your journey.
Entrepreneurial Lessons Learned
We were thrilled to welcome Bill McKiernan from Silicon Valley to our IDEATE Ireland Briefing Event. He shared invaluable insights from his journey of founding and scaling a billion-dollar business.
IDEATE Ireland Latest
A Minute With The Masters
A Minute With The Masters is 10 questions that we ask successful entrepreneurs. The questions are adapted from Tim Ferriss’s book ‘Tribe of Mentors’.
2024 Showcase Gallery
Contact Us
Applicants
hello@ideateireland.ie
Sponsors
sponsor@ideateireland.ie
Press
pr@ideateireland.ie