The Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Kilkenny has an investment fund of up to €50,000 to award to young entrepreneurs across three categories locally – Best Business Idea, Best Start-Up Business and Best Established Business.

The competition is open to people between the ages of 18 (at the date of application) and 35 (at 31st December 2016) with a great business idea. Entrants can be Individuals, partnerships, established businesses or people overseas (including Irish emigrants) who will headquarter their business in Ireland.

At the official launch in St. Canices Credit Union last week by LEO Carlow and LEO Kilkenny, previous national and county winners including Blaine Doyle, GlowDx; Screenforge Ltd promoters Martin O’Reilly and Graham Comerford, Rachel Doyle, Rara Photography; Sybil Cope from Shankill Castle and Diarmuid Byrne, Equi Ratings met up to talk about the role IBYE has played in their businesses to date.  

At the launch Acting Head of Enterprise, Fiona Deegan said “Leo Kilkenny is fully supportive of the IBYE initiative, the aim of which is to support a culture of entrepreneurship among young people. Entrepreneurship needs to be promoted as a viable career option and this competition helps to encourage young people to set up new businesses”.  She added “IBYE has proven to be a great success and I would encourage young people with a business idea or currently running a business to apply for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur”.

To enter, young entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 35 in County Kilkenny are being asked to visit the competition website at www.ibye.ie, to submit their entry online. The closing date to enter is Friday, October 14^th and there is no entry fee.