Fingal Entrepreneur Reaches National Final of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur Competition (IBYE)
Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Fingal has confirmed that Ciaran Brennan from Ground Up Software Ltd. T/A “Livecosts.com” in Blanchardstown has clinched a place in the national final of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition in September at Google HQ.
Ciaran is competing in the Best Start-Up category, and is one of the three young entrepreneurs who will represent the Dublin region on Sunday 15th September 2019. The local entrepreneur now have the opportunity, along with seven other national finalists (three from each region nationally - one in each category), to become Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur and share in a €100,000 winners’ investment fund.
The Best Start-Up winner Livecosts.com helps construction companies increase their profits by leveraging artificial intelligence to manage & analyse their project costs in real time. The idea emerged when Ciaran was in Australia running another construction business. He returned to Fingal to start the software business in January 2018, leveraging artificial intelligence to automate the collecting of cost data on construction projects.
Now in its fifth year, IBYE is a nationwide campaign to celebrate Ireland’s young entrepreneurs and is open to individuals aged 18 to 35 who have an innovative business idea, new start-up or established business.
Eight regional finals are taking place across the country over the next few weeks in the search for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur 2019.
Dublin’s “Best Young Entrepreneurs’ were announced at an awards ceremony hosted by Dublin’s LEOs on Wednesday 12th June at the Westbury Hotel. The winners were chosen from 12 finalists, shortlisted from almost 400 applicants in the competition which was launched earlier this year by the LEOs as part of a nationwide search to find “Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE).
The Dublin final was hosted by Noel Davidson of Entrepreneurs Academy. Special guests at the awards ceremony included: Declan Hughes Assistant Secretary at the Department of Business Enterprise & Innovation; Deirdre O’Neill of Enterprise Ireland; Oisín Geoghegan, Chair of the Network of 31 LEOs; AnnMarie Farrelly, Interim Chief Executive of Fingal County Council; and Emer O’Gorman, Director of Services at Fingal County Council.
Speaking at the regional final Chair of the LEO Network and Head of Enterprise in LEO Fingal, Oisín Geoghegan said “We are delighted to have had such a positive response from so many strong candidates from Dublin this year - it is fantastic to see some of our best young entrepreneurs here tonight with innovative ideas and businesses. The skills and knowledge gained by all involved in the competition will stay with each participant and help grow their businesses even further. We are excited to see what will be in store for our regional winners and we wish them every success in the upcoming national finals! IBYE is a remarkable platform that we hope will encourage and grow young entrepreneurship and job creation in the region.”
Further details on the competition can be found on the IBYE website at www.ibye.ie. A comprehensive list of supports available to young entrepreneurs is available through www.localenterprise.ie/Fingal
ENDS
For media queries, please contact Oisín Geoghegan, Chair of the Network of 31 Local Enterprise Offices and Head of Enterprise in Fingal, on:
Tel: 01 8900 800 or 087 9884 081. E-mail: [email protected]
Photos:
Captioned photos (reproduction free) can be downloaded here:
Photographer: Ben Ryan Photography
Phone: 087-8137739; Email: [email protected]
Notes to Editor:
About IBYE
Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur is an enterprise initiative run by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) around the country and funded by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland. A €2million investment fund is available through IBYE which supports young entrepreneurs through training, mentoring and direct financial investments.
Now in its fifth year, IBYE was open to people between the ages of 18 and 35 (at the date of application) with an innovative business idea, new start-up or established business, including: individuals, venture teams, partnerships, existing businesses with a new idea, or people overseas(including Irish emigrants) who will headquarter in Ireland.
Each LEO has a total fund of up to €50,000 to invest in six businesses (three category winners and three runners-up) according to criteria including businesses’ investment needs.
The three categories are as follows:
- Best Business Idea(pre-trading) – up to €10,000 investment fund through every LEO (€7,000 for category winner and €3,000 for runner-up, through every LEO)
- Best Start-Up Business (In business 18 months or less), with up to €20,000 investment fund through every LEO (€15,000 for category winner and €5,000 for runner-up, through every LEO)
- Best Established Business (trading for more than 18 months) with up to €20,000 investment fund through every LEO (€15,000 for category winner and €5,000 for runner-up, through every LEO)
There will be eight regional finals held from which 24 contenders (three from each region – one in each category) will be selected to compete for the national title of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur.
A further €100,000 investment fund will be available to invest in the winners of the three categories at the national finals, one of which will also be named as “Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur.