Twenty four young entrepreneurs will compete this Sunday in the final of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition.

An initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities, IBYE is run across three categories: Best Business Idea, Best StartUp Business and Best Established Business.

One overall winner will be awarded the title of ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’.

The programme provides an overall €2m investment fund with targeted business development supports. The competition, which is funded by the government and supported by Enterprise Ireland, attracted c.1,600 applicants this year.

Best Business Idea

Eoghan Mulcahy
Deepseek
www.deepseek.ai
LEO Limerick
Deepseek is a technology company specialising in Artificial Intelligence and its first product is an automated drone-based river rescue system.

In Association with

John Duggan
Loanitt
www.loanitt.ie
LEO Kilkenny
Loanitt is a new FinTech Business to Business Credit Intermediary with a cutting-edge technology platform that streamlines the credit application process.

Martin O’Reilly
Output Sports
www.outputsports.com
LEO Dún Laoghaire - Rathdown
Output Sports is a system that streamlines the off-field athlete performance optimisation process, testing areas like strength and speed using a single sensor.

Conor Kerley
Setanta Nutrition Science
www.f6s.com/setantanutritionscience
LEO Louth
Setanta Nutrition Science combines ancient wisdom with modern science to create whole-food, plant-based supplements to prevent and treat diseases, such as diabetes.

Damien Kilgannon
Sula Health
www.sulahealth.com
LEO Sligo
Sula Health has designed discrete and ergonomic eyeglasses that can deliver light therapy treatment through a person’s eyes, to treat common sleep disorders.

Diane Cooper
True Fitness
www.truefitness.ie
LEO Laois
True Fitness is developing a point-of-care device to assess the variables that quantify insulin resistance, accompanied by a practical evidence-based treatment plan.

Elizabeth McGloughlin
Tympany Medical
www.tympanymedical.com
LEO Galway
Tympany Medical is a medical device company that’s developing the world’s first specialised endoscope for ear surgery, enabling surgeons to have wide-angle endoscopic views.

Darragh Lucey
Yooni
www.yooni.ie
LEO South Cork
Yooni’s platform provides interactive content, course selector tools and data collection tools to help Higher Education Institutes engage, grow and monetise student markets.

Best Startup Business

Ross Lawless
CALT Dynamics
www.caltdynamics.com
LEO Wicklow
CALT Dynamics specialise in decentralising technologies and is developing a new generation of lower cost 3D printers, using a ‘Physical Mask Curing’ process.

Pierce Dargan
Equine MediRecord
www.equinemedirecord.com
LEO Kildare
Equine MediRecord has developed an app and website to simplify medical record compliance for the horse industry through a regulator-approved digital medicines register.

Orla Stafford
Izmoo
www.izmoo.ie
LEO Louth
Izmoo is a gelato brand that manufactures Italian ice-cream locally, selling through two company-owned retail locations in Ireland and at external catering events.

Ciaran Brennan
Livecosts.com
www.livecosts.com
LEO Fingal
LiveCosts.com is a construction technology company that has developed the industry's first Artificial Intelligence platform which automates and displays real time construction costs.

Martin O’Reilly
O’Reilly Sports
www.oreillysofficial.com
LEO Donegal
O’Reilly Sports is a custom clothing supplier, offering a bespoke service to sports clubs, businesses and organisations in Ireland, the UK and U.S.

Sharon Cunningham
Shorla Pharma
www.shorlapharma.ie
LEO Tipperary
Shorla Pharma is a healthcare company developing innovative therapies around women’s and paediatric health and its first product is for Breast and Ovarian Cancer.

Brendan Maloney
Skillko
www.Skillko.com
LEO Mayo
Skillko has developed a next generation training platform, creating an open marketplace for businesses and training suppliers to connect and transact more efficiently.

Wendy Oke
TeachKloud
www.teachkloud.com
LEO South Cork
TeachKloud is a pioneering management and compliance tool for early years teachers that also uses machine learning to provide real-time recommendations and analysis.

Best Established Business

Cathal Bourke
Bourke Sports Ltd
www.bourkesports.ie
LEO Tipperary
Bourke Sports design and manufacture high quality sports equipment and sportswear such as hurleys, footballs, jerseys and bags for domestic and export markets.

Devan Hughes
Buymie
www.buymie.ie
LEO Dublin City
Buymie is an on-demand grocery delivery platform, created to bridge the gap between convenience and online shopping using a sharing economy model.

Conor Walsh
Encon
www.encon.ie
LEO Waterford
Encon has been operating in the housing market for over ten years, delivering retrofit homes that are more energy efficient and affordable to run.

David Bambrick
Equireel
www.equireel.com
LEO Carlow
Equireel is a media company focusing on the equestrian sport of Eventing, using unmanned cameras to enable riders to analyse and improve their performances.

Emma-Rose Conroy
Euro Stallions (Ireland) Ltd
www.eurostallions.ie
LEO Offaly
Euro Stallions (Ireland) Ltd is a stallion semen agency for breeders and has established an EU-approved stallion semen, embryo collection and freezing centre.

Caroline Thompson
Riverside Spa
www.riversidespa.ie
LEO Cavan
Riverside Spa specialises in relaxation therapies from dermalogica facials to body treatments and includes a thermal suite area with sauna and steam room.

Sean McGarry
ShowerGem
ww.showergem.com
LEO Mayo
ShowerGem is a shower caddy manufactured in Ireland that uses a patented design to store essentials by attaching it to tiles using transparent glue.

Míchéal Savage
Lir Analytical
www.liranalytical.com
LEO Longford
Lir Analytical develops scientifically-engineered chemical solutions for the beverage and food processing industries, helping to prevent the spread of bacteria in food chain production.

The challenges facing young entrepreneurs, and their successes, are illustrated by Lir Analytical, led by 31-year-old Mícheál Savage (pictured above) and John Noel McGivney.

The venture, established in June 2013, develops chemical solutions for the beverage and food processing industries, helping to prevent the spread of bacteria in food chain production.

Savage holds a BSc in Analytical Chemistry from AIT and achieved a scholarship from the RDS to attend the Royal Society of Chemistry’s International Youth Forum as a representative of Ireland. He has worked with pharmaceuticals intermediates for five years working to develop pharma/industrial chemicals and developing chemical processes.

For several years Savage researched changes and growth in the dairy industry before coming to the conclusion that there was a need for industry specific disinfectants and particularly for one which would eliminate bacteria harmful at source and reduce the need for antibiotics.

The company had accumulated startup losses of €1m at end 2017 and €200,000 equity invested. Net worth at period end was a negative €817,000, and the two directors paid themselves €17,500 for all that risk. McGivney (63) was also owed €235,000 by the company at year-end.

In 2018, outstanding loans of €280,000 owed to the founders were converted into equity. This occurred in tandem with a funding round which saw Arvacan Holdings in Mullingar invest €350,000 and Enterprise Ireland invest €175,000 of taxpayer funding. Arvacan Holdings is controlled by Garrett Moore, who made a fortune with Steripack.