Empowering Entrepreneurs

Brave & Bold

IDEATE Ireland provides a unique opportunity for students 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.

Take The Leap…

…like the IDEATE Ireland alumni 2022. Watch the video.

Competition

Ideate Ireland Competition

CASH PRIZES

Winner

€15K

First Runner-Up

€7K

Second Runner-Up

€5K

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, 30 March 2023.
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.
  • Complimentary access to OnePageCRM.
  • Ideate Ireland badge to display on a website.

2023 Timeline

14 FEBRUARY

Applications Open

07 MARCH

Open Evening

21 MARCH

Applications Close (at midnight)

30 MARCH

Shortlisted Teams Announced

11 APRIL

Workshops Commence (Online)

20 JUNE

Competition Showcase (in-person)

2022 Finalists

Cotter Agritech

Cotter Agritech has developed a system that uses advanced algorithms to enable farmers to transition from blanket treating animals with antiparasitic drugs to precise applications targeting only animals that need treatment. This reduces antiparasitic drug use by up to half, reducing costs, preventing drug resistance, and reducing biodiversity impacts.

University College Cork

Giyst

Giyst provides instant, automated video summaries of the essence of content using the latest A.I. and Machine Learning advances. Summaries drive four times more content discovery and maximise audience retention by keeping audiences engaged longer and increasing conversion rates.

CeADAR Research Centre/University College Dublin 

Indiecom

Indiecom is changing how mobile network coverage is mapped and tested by creating a new hardware and software solution that allows quicker testing at a lower upfront cost. This enables customers to collect more data and make better decisions about the future of their network.

Queen’s University Belfast

MetHEALTH

MetHEALTH provides a biomarker-based risk-stratification platform and associated digital health solution that can identify patients with complications of obesity, including heart disease and liver disease, that impacts clinical decision-making and enhances the delivery of personalised care for the individual.

Nova/University College Dublin

Neurobell

Neurobell is developing a pocket-sized brain monitor with automated seizure detection for newborns. Using patent-pending electronics and artificial intelligence, the Neurobell technology can be used by all neonatal ICU staff, ensuring timely monitoring and treatment.

INFANT Research Centre/University College Cork

NeutroPredict

NeutroPredict is an eHealth-enabled device that allows chemotherapy patients to monitor their blood neutrophil levels at home with a simple finger prick. Patients can know if they’re at risk of life-threatening infection, whilst oncologists can re-schedule chemotherapy treatment if neutrophil counts are too low, saving the patient a trip to the hospital. 

National University of Ireland, Galway

pHetalSafe

pHetalSafe seeks to detect and prevent fetal hypoxia and assess fetal well-being during labour. The minimally invasive, multimodal device provides continuous lactate assessment, pH and other critical physiological variables, including fetal heart rate and temperature, providing practitioners with a robust, sensitive, and specific solution.

INFANT Research Centre/University College Cork

Shirt in a Box

Shirt in a Box is an e-commerce business that supplies football fans with shirts from around the world through mystery products. Dedicated to disrupting the football industry, their innovative product puts the fan first. 

Queen’s University Belfast

SMARTProbe

SMARTProbe is a point-of-care breast biopsy system that can identify healthy, benign and suspected cancerous tissue, allowing radiologists to make better and more informed decisions in real-time during a biopsy, reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies and enabling a diagnosis for women in minutes as opposed to days. 

Tyndall National Institute

Vocalynx

Vocalynx is a vocal health device that provides therapeutic impact for healthcare patients. Their portable, pressure-adapting tool yields behaviour change through its real-time visual feedback. Therapies used with this tool prevent voice issues, remediate vocal strain, improve breath control, and strengthen the voice. 

University of Limerick

Past Finalists

2017 - 2022
  • Advanced Analytics Labs
  • Amara Therapeutics
  • Better Examinations (acquired)
  • Bionics
  • Carbon Harvesters
  • Change Donations
  • Connect the Dots
  • Cotter Agritech
  • Darwin + Goliath
  • Equine MediRecord
  • Giyst
  • Happy Scribe
  • Indiecom
  • jumpAgrade
  • Kids Speech Labs
  • Luminate Medical
  • Machine Eye
  • MetHEALTH
  • MyClinic365
  • Neurobell
  • NeutroPredict
  • OpinionX
  • Peckish
  • pHetalSafe
  • Safecility
  • SeamlessCARE
  • Sensi
  • Shirt in a Box
  • Signal Optimiser
  • SMARTProbe
  • Sula Health
  • Vocalynx
  • Whispr.AI/Lua (acquired by Beekeeper)
  • Zendra Health

Become Ireland’s Next BIG Thing!

Ideate Ireland Application
Application Process
  • Applications are open from Tuesday, 14 February and close on Tuesday, 21 March 2023 at 23.59 GMT.
  • Applications are considered on a competitive basis.
  • All IP resides with the promoter and team.
  • Teams should be available to participate in all workshop sessions.
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

There are 10 online workshops:

 

DATEACTIVITYDELIVERY
11-Apr-23Workshop 1:
Orientation
In Person
(The Guinness Enterprise Centre)
18-Apr-23Workshop 2:
Problem Framing
Online
25-Apr-23Workshop 3:
Customer Discovery
Online
2-May-23Workshop 4:
Value Proposition
Online
9-May-23Workshop 5:
Market Sizing
Online
16-May-23Workshop 6:
Go-To-Market
Online
23-May-23Workshop 7:
Presentation Skills
Online
30-May-23Workshop 8:
Business Road-mapping
Online
6-Jun-23Workshop 9:
Mentor Sessions
Online
13-Jun-23Workshop 10:
Practice Pitch
Online
20-Jun-23IDEATE Ireland Showcase & ReceptionIn Person
(The Guinness Enterprise Centre)

Office Hours

If you have a query in advance of your submission, please book a 15-minute Office Hours chat.

Entrepreneur Feedback

When asked what our greatest learning was, we answered EVERYTHING.

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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.

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If you want to stress test your business idea and make an honest go/no-go decision this is the right forum for you.

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A stand out for me was the quality of the information provided.

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The personal one-on-one contact is a real stand out strength to what made this programme so valuable.

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The stage tasks were a tough test for the validity of our business idea.

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Having such brilliant and supportive mentoring has helped us stay true to our vision.

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Hearing from people who have had success and shared their experiences is invaluable.

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We added a group of quality start-ups and entrepreneurs to our network.

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Fascinating guest talks and general advice in terms of road mapping.

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You will get further in 8 weeks than you could in 8 months on your own.

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Each module opened our eyes to new ideas; each invited talk inspired us to drive our idea forward.
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Empowering Entrepreneurs

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

Bill McKiernan

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.

    Bill McKiernan

    President, WSM Capital

    Cian O'Flaherty

    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.

      Cian O'Flaherty

      CEO, Safecility

      Danny Moore

      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.

        Danny Moore

        CEO, Options

        David Moffitt

        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.

          David Moffitt

          CEO, Kayfoam

          Helen Fullen

          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.

            Helen Fullen

            CEO, Alinea

            Steering Group

            Funders

            Ideate Ireland is generously underwritten through philanthropic donations and corporate sponsorship.

            Each & Other
            Guinness Enterprise Centre
            Irish Life
            Key Capital
            PwC

            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.

            Accountant Online
            Happyscribe
            Invest NI
            OnePage CRM
            Ormeau Baths
            The Ireland Funds
            Turas Branda

            Academic Partners

            View

             

             

            Academic Partners

             

             

             

            Culture

            Our Vision
            Our Vision
            Our vision is to be the catalyst that turns brilliant ideas into thriving international businesses.
            Our Mission
            Our Mission
            Fuelled with renewed energy, dynamism and fresh thinking, our mission is to capture the imagination of Ireland’s brightest minds and help promising companies to make a lasting contribution to social goals, employment, and the global economy.
            Our Values
            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
            Your Brand
            Ideate Ireland creates a strong platform for entrepreneurs to flourish. The bold appearance of the letter ‘i’ represents the strength of Ideate Ireland’s enlightenment, and the bravery of our participants.

            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 delighted to be joined by Bill McKiernan from Silicone Valley for our IDEATE Ireland Open Evening 2022. He shared some fascinating learnings from his own experience of starting a business and growing a company.

            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’.

            2022 Awardees

            IDEATE Ireland announced the winners of the 2022 competition at a reception in the US Ambassador’s residence on Tuesday, 28th June 2022. Committed to enhancing cooperation, connection and mutual understanding on the island of Ireland, and to engaging with all communities and traditions around a shared passion for entrepreneurship and new venture development, the competition finale was an inspirational showcase of start-up talent emerging from third-level institutions.

            Contact Us

            Contact Ideate Ireland

            Applicants

            hello@ideateireland.ie

            Sponsors

            sponsor@ideateireland.ie

            Press

            pr@ideateireland.ie

            General Queries

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