Young entrepreneurs in Cork celebrated at Ignite awards

YOUNG entrepreneurs at The Hub in University College Cork (UCC) have been celebrated at this year’s IGNITE awards.

The budding business leaders, who showcased their start-ups and plans, were all participants in UCC’s IGNITE programme.

Six IGNITE participants pitched their businesses to the packed audience of entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors.

The founders competed in two award categories: The Investor Pathway Award and the Revenue Pathway Award.

The winners included Shannen O’Reilly, of TrustDush, winner of the Bank of Ireland Investor Pathway Award, and Ailis Crowley, of FASH Forward, winner of the Local Enterprise Office Revenue Pathway Award. Other awardees were Elvis Seporaitis, of Volta Robotics, winner of the Bank of Ireland Investor Pitch Award, and Marek Zbanski, of BlueDawn Agency, winner of the Local Enterprise Office Sales Pitch Award.

Guest speaker was IGNITE alumnus Mark O’Sullivan, who co-founded newborn brain-monitoring technology company Neurobell.

The IGNITE programme has worked with 170 start-ups over the last 12 years and these companies have created more than 370 jobs.

IGNITE director Eamon Curtin said: “This has been a very busy year for past and present participants on the IGNITE programme. We are especially proud of the numerous awards that have been won by programme alumni.

“We were delighted to welcome everyone to UCC this evening for what was a great showcase of the business ideas. It was wonderful to also welcome back Mark O’Sullivan, who talked about his own business story. Mark is a great example of what can be achieved from dedication and hard work.”

The UCC IGNITE programme is open to recent graduates from any third-level institution in Ireland, who have the passion and ambition to work full-time on a scalable start-up idea.

The programme is funded by UCC, Bank of Ireland, and the three Local Enterprise Offices of Cork City — South Cork and North & West Cork, Cork City Council, and Cork County Council. Applications are open for the next IGNITE programme, which begins in January.