Winner of the Big Pitch 2023 revealed in Kilkenny Castle

‘The Big Pitch 2023’ took place at the Parade Tower in Kilkenny City, where three innovative Ireland-based start-ups and scaleups pitched in front of a panel of judges hoping to win a grand prize of €10,000.

The event was organised by South-East BIC and they said that the standard and quality of the applicants was exceptional and made it a difficult job to shortlist to three. 

The three qualifying startup companies, GoChallenge, Celtonn and Reso Health were paired with three successful and experienced entrepreneurs, Clare Hughes of CF Pharma/Telenostic, Patsy Carney of Eirgen and Rory O’Connor from Scurri.

The mentors supported them in their preparation for the big day. 

On Thursday (November 23) the three startups pitched in front of the judge, in a packed Parade Tower in Kilkenny City.

The Judges panel consisted of Keith Brock from Enterprise Ireland, Shane Brennan of Hubspot, Georgina Carpendale of Fitzgerald Power, Niall McEvoy from Elkstone and Aileen McGrath from Kilkenny LEO, representing the Local Enterprise Offices in Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford and Tipperary. 

Three pitches along with a lively Q&A from the judges resulted in GoChallenge being crowned the winner and being awarded the prize of €10,000.

GoChallenge brings a ‘bold new vision’ for how organisations and their people connect and thrive in this new era of work. 

Their mission is to re-energise and reconnect the workplace by making self-care and movement part of everyone’s job description and working day.  

Their health-focused employee experience platform is designed to deliver a sense of community, staff retention and attraction, along with a healthy team and bottom line.  

Whilst the judges were away making their difficult decision, the three mentors; Clare, Patsy and Rory, along with Anna-Marie Turley of Enterprise Ireland chatted with Aidan Shine, demystifying the seed and investment process for start-ups and telling the story of their own startup and scaling experiences. 

South East BIC works with innovative entrepreneurs and teams through specialised business consultancy services with specific emphasis on investor readiness.

“Preparation for raising investment and the actual investor pitch are key elements of what we do with startups. The Big Pitch highlights the work that these entrepreneurs have to do in order to attract the right attention from the right investor at the right time,” said Aidan Shine, CEO South East BIC.

“Hosting the Big Pitch gives start-ups and scaleups a great opportunity to pitch and to network with key stakeholders and funders.”