Winners revealed in Kilkenny competition for innovative start-ups

Participants in a recent enterprise awards scheme were so impressive that for the first time judges were unable to pick just one winner!

The pleasant surprise for candidates saw an extra second and third prize added to the accolades.

The outstanding ‘pitches’ were made to judges on the final day of the ‘START Exit 4’ competition.

The initiative was launched back in April and the competition attracted entrepreneurs from right across the county with an array of tech related business ideas. The competition involved a series of business workshops and one-to-one mentoring culminating in a finale where finalists pitched their ideas towards an investment fund worth €10,000.

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Last Friday, the entrepreneurs individually went before the judges in a ‘Dragons Den’ style final pitch — doing such a good job that the extra awards were added.

Overall winner of the competition is Shane Doherty. Shane is currently developing a fully integrated AI-powered hotel operating system aimed at improving revenue and overall efficiency for the hospitality sector. Described as ‘innovative and interesting’, his work will support the hospitality industry, which is so important in Kilkenny and across Ireland.

Second place was awarded to Mark Dunne. He is currently developing an AI powered fintech platform for the corporate sector specifically providing a solution for the mergers and acquisitions landscape. In third place, Denis Queally, Awaken Botanical based in Urlingford, has developed a premium herbal wellness brand rooted in nature, science and personalisation.

Judges were Aileen McGrath, Local Enterprise Office (LEO), Dymphna Hayes, Urlingford Town Team and Ian Campbell, SETU.
Ms McGrath said she had been involved in these competitions for years and it was the first time the judges had been overwhelmed by the high standard and couldn’t pick just one winner.

“Whilst the investment fund is a very important element of the competition, other business supports such as management training, networking and one-to-one mentoring are also at the heart of this competition. We hoped that by taking part, it has supported our finalists move their business proposals to the next level,” Ms McGrath said.
She urged the young businesses to keep in touch with the LEO who have a support system for them.

Other participants in the competition were: Jenny Dowley, Andrii Kunar, Pa O’Sullivan and Seyi Adewunmi.
Chairman of Kilkenny County Council Michael McCarthy said that “the overall aim of this competition was to encourage and support people starting out on their entrepreneurial journey.”

He added: “We hope the participants have enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot through participation in terms of refining the business proposition and developing an investor ready pitch which helped to prepare for future funding.”
Exit 4 is a conferencing and remote working hub located in the renovated former bank building in the centre of Urlingford. Both speakers thanked Urlingford Town Team, who run the centre, for their support of the competition. Ms McGrath thanked them for the warm welcome and their work to create the excellent facility that enabled SETU and LEO support local businesses.