Athena, an early-stage start-ups that is developing an AI coaching tool to help job candidates, has been named the winner of the 2025 NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition.

The company received a €3,000 cash prize, sponsored by Terra Solar following the final pitches to the judges at the end of the four-week accelerator programme for UCD student entrepreneurs.

Founder Zander Deans-Xiao recently completed a BSc in Economics and Finance at the UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business.

The AI tool is trained by recruiters and is adaptable to both the candidate and the job, helping candidates to be more confident and authentic in high-stakes job interviews.

“It is a great honour for Athena to have been named the winner of the One to Watch prize at the conclusion of this year’s NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition, especially as the pitches delivered by my fellow programme participants were excellent and of a very high standard," said Deans-Xiao.

“Athena’s initial focus is on business, economics, and STEM students in Ireland and the UK applying for competitive finance and consulting roles.

"By combining generative AI with recruiter-informed insights, our platform delivers highly personalized, role-specific coaching.

"But Athena’s deeper mission goes beyond performance, it’s about helping candidates find clarity, confidence, and their authentic voice in moments that shape their future.

"We believe scalable AI should make people more human, not less."

Deans-Xiao said his go-to-market strategy includes university partnerships, student society demos, and recruiter pilots, and that he is seeking €60,000 to enhance Athena's AI models and develop those partnerships.

"We are seeking mentorship and introductions to educational institutions and recruitment agencies which will be invaluable in building our credibility, validating product-market fit and preparing for growth," he continued.

"At its core, Athena is more than technology. It’s a belief that confidence doesn’t come from rehearsal, it comes from clarity, clarity of who you are, and the courage to stand behind it.”

The annual NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition is delivered as a framework to mentor and support UCD undergraduate and postgraduate students who want to work together to develop and grow start-ups.

10 early-stage student ventures and 20 participants completed this year’s programme. Over the last 11 years, more than 90 early-stage ventures and 220 students have now completed the NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition.

“A key objective of the NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition is to provide the students with the skills, the confidence, and the opportunity to further develop their business ideas and hopefully in time launch their start-ups in Ireland and even internationally," said Liam Cronin, director of innovation at UCD. 

"The final pitches delivered by the enthusiastic students, on a range of business ideas from sustainable agriculture to robotics to edtech to healthtech were all excellent, and I would like to congratulate all the participants for successfully completing the accelerator programme.

"I would especially like to congratulate Athena on being named the overall winner of this year’s programme and I wish Zander every success as he progresses his new venture in the months ahead.”

The four-week programme, which uses the Lean Startup and Business Model Canvas approach, included a series of structured workshops and interactive workshops delivered by Raomal Perera and Caitlin Hafer from Lean Disruptor.

Topics such as customer development; value proposition; working in teams; design thinking; prototyping, environment mapping; financial planning and effective fundraising and pitching, were covered.

The members of the judging panel were: Richard Twohig, operations director, Terra Solar; Weili Wang, senior investment associate, Atlantic Bridge; Liv Torfeldt, intern, Atlantic Bridge; Anton Pluschke, senior commercialisation specialist, Enterprise Ireland; and chair Cronin.

Photo: (l-r) Richard Twohig, Zander Deans-Xiao, and Liam Cronin. (Pic: Paul Sharp/Sharppix)