Three young entrepreneurs from South Dublin went head-to-head with entrepreneurs from Dublin City, Fingal and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at the Regional Final of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition, which took place inthe Royal College of Physicians on January 24th.
Local Enterprise Office South Dublin was represented at this year’s Regional Final by three Tallaght-based enterprises:
- John Maguire, of Sensation Audio, (Best Business Idea Category).
- Jane Asple, of EmmabyJane, (Best Start-Up Business Category).
- Sarah Kiely, of Sadie’s Kitchen, (Best Established Business Category).
- The nominees were all interviewed by a three member judging panel and were assessed on criteria such as business innovation, job creation potential and financial planning. The announcement of the national finalists was made at a reception in The Royal College of Physicians by special guest Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Mr. Pat Breen T.D. Other guests at the Regional Final included the Deputy Mayor of South Dublin Breeda Bonner. Although none of the South Dublin finalists made it through to March’s national final, they will all share a €37,000 investment fund through the Local Enterprise Office, from the county final stage of the competition.
Colm Ward, the Head of Enterprise with the Local Enterprise Office South Dublin,congratulated the three finalists, saying: “Our search to find and support Ireland’s best young entrepreneurs, which started last September, has turned up some incredible business talent. Our local entrepreneurs are the business leaders of the future and the entrants in the competition have all shown innovation and drive. I’d like to congratulate all our nominees and entrants, who ‘flew the flag’ for us at county and regional finals and we look forward to supporting their businesses into the future.”
The three category winners at the Dublin Regional Final were:
- Kevin Kelleher, of Ososform representing Fingal in the Best Business Idea Category
- Alan Hickey, of WeBringg representing Fingal in the Best Start-Up Business Category
- Conor O’Loughlin, of Glofox representing Dun Laoghaire Rathdown in the Best Established Business Category.
Aimed at 18 to 35-year-olds, the IBYE initiative is run by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) nationwide, and supported by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland. The investment awards will be used by the young entrepreneurs to help fund business start-ups, create new jobs locally and help develop new products for international markets. Competition details and results are available from www.ibye.ie and information around the supports available to young entrepreneurs.
