An app-based startup that encourages co-workers to carpool has claimed the overall prize in the 2019 UCD Start-up Stars Programme.

The early-stage venture, called MLN (pronounced ‘melon’), secured a €3,000 cash prize for winning the annual UCD competition, which is now in its fifth year.

MLN is developing a real-time in-house carpooling app aimed at businesses. It uses gamification to attract and retain users by providing incentives and rewards for carpooling participation.

The MLN dashboard will provide customers with visibility of their carbon footprint reduction, productivity increases and cross-team collaborations.

Using GPS, MLN can automatically detect the user’s commute, while an accelerometer and gyroscope can detect collisions and perform vehicle diagnostics.

In Association with

MLN’s founders are Manal Mukhtar, an UCD undergraduate studying business and law, and Ellen Le Bas, who recently completed a postgraduate degree in the UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

The UCD Start-up Stars programme supports UCD undergraduate and postgraduate students who want to work together to develop and grow startup companies. It was developed by NovaUCD, the UCD Innovation Academy and UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.

Seven early-stage ventures, with a total of 16 team members, participated in a mentoring programme over four weeks at NovaUCD.

The mentoring programme provided workshops, pitching sessions and taught content to the participants. Each team also received a cash stipend and office space at NovaUCD.

“We believe that we are at the cusp of a carpooling revolution and that MLN can be at the forefront when it reaches the tipping point,” said Manal Mukhtar.

Co-founder Ellen Le Bas added that NovaUCD’s network of mentors and fellow entrepreneurs were a valuable resource to have as an early-stage startup.

Tom Flanagan, UCD’s director of enterprise and commercialisation took the opportunity to provide an update on the ongoing NovaUCD expansion. “Our €6.5m project to develop NovaUCD’s eastern courtyard, which will increase our capacity to house startups by over 50%, will be completed very shortly,” he said.

“When opened it will help us to meet the significant and ongoing demand from ambitious entrepreneurs … who want to locate at NovaUCD.”

Photo: Manal Mukhtar and Ellen Le Bas (Pic: Nick Bradshaw)