MEDICAL DEVICE INVENTOR IS CROWNED FINGAL’S BEST YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR!
The inventor of an innovative medical device called “Ostoform”, Malahide native Kevin Kelleher, was announced as “Fingal’s Best Young Entrepreneur” by Fingal Local Enterprise Office this week at a special ceremony in County Hall. Kevin is one of three category winners in the competition which carries a prize fund totalling €50,000 in Fingal. All three winners now go on to represent Fingal at the Dublin Region competition in January.
Fingal’s best young entrepreneurs have been announced this week at the County Final of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition, run by the Fingal Local Enterprise Office.
The IBYE competition is run throughout Ireland and supported by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland. Now in its 4th year, this year attracted almost 1,500 applications nationwide, all competing for a share of the €2 million prize fund.
Oisin Geoghegan, Head of Enterprise in Fingal explained: “The search to find Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur commenced back in July and we were delighted with the calibre of entries. We had a particularly strong level of interest in the competition here in Fingal, in fact, we received the highest number of applications ever this year, exceeding every other Local Authority area in Ireland!”
The overall title-winner Kevin Kelleher of Ostoform in Malahide also won the “Best Business Idea” Award, with Suzanne Culleton, aged 29 and also of Malahide, scooping the runner up title with her innovative hair removal cosmetic product.
There was also joy for Sean Murray, aged 32 of WeBringg Ltd. in Castleknock, who was named the winner of the “Best Start-Up Business”, while Bernard Nolan, aged 26 of MediMee (Malahide) was named runner-up.
Ryan Scott, aged 26 of DropChef in Sutton secured the prize of the winner of the Best Established Business award. They were joined by Mark Coleman, aged 34 of The Hot Seat Ltd. in Rush, who took the runner up title in this category.
Paul Reid, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council said: “Developing an entrepreneurial culture within Fingal is extremely important as the majority of jobs are in small to medium-sized companies and over 65 per cent of all new jobs are created by start-ups. This competition harnesses and stimulates the enterprising talent that exists among our young citizens and channels this talent into real job creation. It aims to help our budding young entrepreneurs to succeed and recognises the contribution that bright young entrepreneurs make to our local communities”.
Presenting the Award winners with their prizes, the Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Mary McCamley was very impressed by the calibre of the finalists: “I am delighted to see so much energy and innovation here this evening. To each of the 14 finalists this evening I would like to congratulate all of you on your extraordinary achievements and for demonstrating your award-winning entrepreneurial capabilities. I have no doubt that you each have a very bright and exciting future ahead of you”.
Each of the winners and runners-up will share the investment fund of €50,000 from the Local Enterprise
Office to help grow and develop their business. The 3 category winners go forward to the Regional Finals in Dublin City in January. The team in Local Enterprise Office Fingal will be providing intensive supports between now and then to prepare them for the regionals and hopefully Fingal will have a representative at the IBYE National Finals in March.
Stay up to date with the competition by following on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube. Find out more about supports available to entrepreneurs of all ages by visiting www.localenterprise.ie.