Carlow’s “Best Young Entrepreneurs” for 2019 and €50,000 investment fund winners were announced at an awards ceremony hosted by Carlow County Council - Local Enterprise Office in Carlow Town Hall recently.

As part of a nationwide search launched by Minister Heather Humphreys and Minister Pat Breen to find Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneurs (IBYE) for 2019, the six winners and runners-up were chosen from County Carlow local finalists and will now share a €50,000 investment fund.

IBYE, now in its fifth year, is a nationwide youth enterprise initiative to help 18-to-35 year olds with an innovative business idea, new start-up or established business. In 2019, 1,644 young entrepreneurs entered IBYE, which is an initiative of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and supported by Enterprise Ireland and local authorities.

The guest speaker for the final event was the inspiring Sinead Kane who is a qualified solicitor has two PhDs, has run marathons on all seven continents, and holds two Guinness World Records who in sharing her inspirational story telling with the finalists said “People are often really focused on the end goal but really it is about the journey you go on to grow”

The presentation party for the awards , was Cathaoirleach Cllr. Brian O’Donoghue , Kathleen Holohan , Chief Executive of Carlow County Council and Pauline Hoctor Senior Enterprise Development Officer with Carlow Council Council’s – Local Enterprise Office.

Speaking prior to the presentation of the awards Cathaoirleach Cllr. Brian O’Donoghue said, “in Carlowwe are proud of our entrepreneurial community and having young people starting and developing their own business means that future jobs will be developed in our rural communities across the County” , O’Donoghue continued to say “it has been widely acknowledged that giving a person a job or by a personcreating their own job this provides all with a way to make a living , to provide for their family which is the foundation of communities across our county” , O’Donoghue concluded by saying we are committed to supporting all our business community in the development of jobs for our County”. 

The ‘Best New Idea’ category, with a €7,000 investment fund, was won by Craig O’Toole  from Mortgage Pal. The runner-up award and €3,000 investment fund went to Julia Juga from Custom Mouthguards.

The winner of the ‘Best Start-Up Business’ category and the €15,000 investment fund was Magdalena Pydych – Little Crew  The runner-up in this category, collecting a €5,000 investment fund, was Lorand Kertesz from KLT Engineering Solutions.

Meanwhile, the title of Best Established Business with an investment fund of €15,000, went to David Bambrick from Equireel. The runner-up in this category,  scooping a €5,000 investment fund, was Amy Power from Hair & Beauty Chalet.

David Bambrick was also awarded the title of ‘Best Young Entrepreneur’ for County Carlow.

In the lead-up to the county final, each finalist received targeted business supports through Local Enterprise Office County Carlow They attended an intensive Business Boot Camp, receiving mentoring and support on their business plans, pitch training as well as getting the opportunity to connect with other young entrepreneurs from County Carlow.

Kieran Comerford ,  Head of Enterprise with Carlow County Council -  Local Enterprise Office said: “As our winners clearly demonstrate, youth entrepreneurship is thriving here in County Carlow IBYE is about discovering local potential and nurturing that talent through financial supports, mentoring, training and networking opportunities.. We want to build on that success by supporting Carlow’s young entrepreneurs today and into the future.”

Speaking about IBYE , Kathleen Holohan , Chief Executive with Carlow County Council said “we are delighted to  work in partnership with Enterprise Ireland in the delivery of IBYE which will result in €250,000 investment in local young entrepreneurs since its initial incarnation” , Holohan continued to say “in Carlow we have a significant focus on youth development programmes in all facets of our work in Carlow County Council and IBYE , our Student Enterprise Awards and Student Innovation & Design Challenge are all ways we can support the next generation of entrepreneurs for the County which will provide the economic fabric on which the future economic eco-system can be built”.

The county winners from County Carlow will now progress to the regional finals, which will be hosted in Carlow in June 2019 in the Step House in Borris In all, 24 national finalists will be selected at regional finals across the country to compete for the overall title of “Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur.” At the IBYE national final on Sunday 15th September, which takes place at Google’s European Headquarters in Dublin, a €100,000 investment fund will be awarded to winners.

Further details on the competition and supports available to young entrepreneurs are available through www.localenterprise.ie and www.ibye.ie .

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For further information contact Kieran Comerford on kcomerford@carlowcoco.ie or 086-8252037

About IBYE:

Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur is an enterprise initiative run by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) around the country and funded by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland. A €2million investment fund is available through IBYE which supports young entrepreneurs through training, mentoring and direct financial investments.

IBYE was open to people between the ages of 18 and 35 (at the date of application) with an innovative business idea, new start-up or established business, including: individuals, venture teams, partnerships, existing businesses with a new idea, or people overseas(including Irish emigrants) who will headquarter in Ireland.

Each LEO has a total fund of up to €50,000 to invest in six businesses (three category winners and three runners-up) according to criteria including businesses’ investment needs.

The three categories are as follows:

• Best Business Idea (pre-trading) – up to €10,000 investment fund through every   LEO (€7,000 for category winner and €3,000 for runner-up, through every LEO)
•  Best Start-Up Business (In business 18 months or less), with up to €20,000 investment fund through every LEO (€15,000 for category winner and €5,000 for runner-up, through every LEO)
• Best Established Business (trading for more than 18 months) with up to €20,000 investment fund through every LEO (€15,000 for category winner and €5,000 for runner-up, through every LEO)

The county winners will now proceed to eight regional finals from which 24 contenders (three from each region – one in each category) will be selected to compete for the national title of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur.

A further €100,000 investment fund will be available to invest in the winners of the three categories at the national finals, one of which will also be named as “Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur.”