Bridgetown man reaches ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ National Final

An entrepreneur from Bridgetown, Co. Clare has won a place at the national final of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition, for a chance to share a €100,000 investment fund.

Peter Hunt of PiggyBack is representing the Region in the 'Best Idea' category at the national final in Dublin in December and has already won €10,000 in investment from the Local Enterprise Office Clare after being named winner of the same category last month.

The LIT Business in Marketing graduate and co-founder of Node, a software consultancy business with offices in San Francisco and Limerick, says his PiggyBack business idea uses cloud-based technology to provide taxi operators and drivers with key insight into driver performance, demand hotspots and route efficiency. The technology is targeted for release via a mobile and desktop application.

At the IBYE Regional Final, three local business owners and new start-ups from Clare, all under the age of 30, went head-to-head with other county winners from Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary. The nominees were all interviewed by a three-member judging panel and had to deliver a business pitch. Assessed on criteria such as business innovation, job creation potential and financial planning, the announcement of the national finalists was made at a reception last night (Monday, 2 November 2015) at the Abbeycourt Hotel in Nenagh.

Diarmuid McSweeney of True North Technologies and Charlie Glynn of Glynn Technical Diamonds Ltd - the two other category winners in the Clare stage of the competition - were joined at the Regional Final ceremony by Cllr. Mary Howard (Leas Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council), Tom Coughlan (Chief Executive, Clare County Council) and Padraic McElwee (Head of Enterprise with the Local Enterprise Office Clare).

Congratulating the finalists, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton T.D. said: “Central to our plans for jobs and growth is supporting more businesses to start-up. Part of this plan is also fostering a stronger culture of entrepreneurship and promoting start-up business as a career option for young people. That is what is behind this competition to find the best young entrepreneur in each region, and ultimately Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur. I am delighted to congratulate all involved.

Cllr. Mary Howard, Leas Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, congratulated Peter Hunt on his award success.

"It bodes well for the future of the local and national economy that our young people have the confidence and skills to generate exciting and innovative business ideas. Peter's ingenuity, determination and business acumen has ensured his success in this competition and in his fledgling career as a successful businessman," said the Leas Cathaoirleach.

"The Local Enterprise Office Clare has played a key role in helping entrepreneurs like Peter achieve success. Since its establishment, the Office has supported hundreds of business men and women with developing their business ideas and in doing so has strengthened the local enterprise sector in partnership with the various agencies responsible for job creation in this region," she added.

Peter Hunt now faces tough competition from 23 other finalists, emerging from eight regional finals.  The €100,000 investment fund in December is divided up across four prizes, namely Best New Idea (€20,000 investment); Best Start Up (€30,000 investment); Best Established Business (€30,000 investment); and overall winner of ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ (an additional €20,000 investment).

The entrepreneur from Bridgetown is one of more than 400 business owners and start-ups from around the country to have already benefitted from intensive business bootcamps and mentoring programmes through the network of Local Enterprise Offices, as part of the competition.

Head of Enterprise with the Local Enterprise Office Clare, Padraic McElwee said: “We are proud and honoured to have a representative at the national final in December, as over 1,000 young entrepreneurs entered from every county in Ireland, with tough competition across each category."

"Peter now has a chance of being crowned ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ and to win additional investment of up to €50,000 for his business. We’d also like to congratulate all our other nominees and entrants, who flew the flag for us at the Clare and regional finals and the Local Enterprise Office Clare looks forward to supporting their businesses into the future," he added.

In all, eight regional finals are taking place during October and November:

- Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Longford

- Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny

- Cork City, Cork South, Cork North and West and Waterford

- Galway, Mayo and Roscommon

- Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary

- Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan

- Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown

- Kildare, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath

News, results and updates for ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ competition, is available through www.ibye.ie, www.localenterprise.ie and by searching #IBYE on social media.