Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur 2015 - Local Enterprise Office

Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur is a competition that is open to everyone with an innovative business idea

individuals
venture teams
partnerships
existing businesses with a new idea
people overseas (including Irish emigrants) who will headquarter in Ireland

Local Enterprise Office Mayo are looking for Ireland’s best young entrepreneurs.

If you are aged between 18 and 30, with an outstanding idea/commercial venture for a start-up or existing business then you should enter the IBYE Competition. Almost any young person with a business idea can enter this competition. It doesn’t matter what your background is. Maybe you have been to University and researched a business idea, maybe you have always wanted to be your own boss, maybe you want to work for yourself, maybe you have an idea to improve your existing business or maybe you want to return home and set up your business in Ireland?

It doesn’t matter what you want to do all that matters is you have a good business idea that works. The IBYE competition is a national competition to find Ireland’s best young entrepreneur. Applying is simple, with no entry fees, and there is a €2 million investment fund and targeted business supports on offer to help you turn your business idea into a reality.

The competition is broken down into three categories:

Best New Idea (pre-trading)
Best Start up Business (up to 24 months)
Best Established Business (over 24 months)

Each Local Enterprise Office (LEO) is running a competition aimed at finding winners in each of the three categories as well as an overall winner in each county. Each LEO will have a total fund of €50,000 to invest in the three winning businesses according to criteria including businesses’ investment needs – overall county winners will be eligible for an investment of up to €20,000.

The competition will then proceed to eight regional finals with winners identified in each category. In total, 24 finalists will be selected during the regional finals, during the judging stage. All 24 finalists will win a place at the IBYE national finals, to be held before the end of the year.

Again there will be winners identified for each category as well as an overall winner who will be crowned Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur. There will be a total fund of €100,000 available for investment in the three winning businesses at the national finals, with the overall winner eligible for an investment of up to €50,000. Investment decisions will be made depending on business prospects and investment needs of the winning businesses.

Who can apply?

Before you start preparing your application, please make sure that you’re eligible to apply:

Aged between 18 (at date of application) and 30 (at 31st December 2015).
Applicants aged under 18 at date of application are not eligible to apply.
Original and innovative idea, start-up or existing business.
Applicants must own, control and manage their business Intellectual Property.
Not for profit and social entrepreneurship applicants must operate in a commercial domain.
The applicant must be the main promoter i.e. has the lead role in the business and/or has a significant shareholding in the business.
In the case of a family business, the applicant must set out when they took control of the business and demonstrate the transformational impact they have had on the business since taking control.
Applicants must enter the competition in the LEO area in which their business is located.
IBYE 2014 Winners will be entitled to enter the IBYE 2015 competition if they satisfy the following criteria:
Enter a different category.
Enter the same category but demonstrate that the business has used the IBYE 2014 investment productively and has achieved significant commercial milestones since last year’s competition. These would include evidence of increased employment, increased turnover, improved profitability, engagement with new markets etc.
Enter a completely new idea or new business.
Applicants must be Irish residents eligible to own, manage and operate a business in Ireland at the time of application.
Applicants from overseas, in particular Irish diaspora, are encouraged to apply. Overseas applicants must identify which LEO they wish to be associated with and the applicant must be in a position to engage with the LEO in relation to evaluating their competition entry (e.g. site visit / skype interview). To receive an investment, an overseas applicant must have relocated to Ireland and registered their business in Ireland, that business being the beneficiary of the investment
Applicants must submit an online application and optional video by the closing date of the 31st July 2015.
One project submission per applicant is allowed.

IBYE Winners 2014

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton T.D. pictured with the 2014 #IBYE Winners.

From left to right: Philp Martin from Blanco Nino (‘Best New Idea’ winner, representing LEO Tipperary), Eamon Keane of Xpreso Software (‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ overall winner, representing LEO South Dublin), Minister Richard Bruton T.D. and Dean Gammell from the Group System (‘Best Established Business with Add On’ winner, representing LEO Westmeath). Photo credit: Mark Stedman, Photocall Ireland.

How to Apply

The application procedure is easy. Submit your business idea through the online submission form (link below) and select your Local Enterprise Office.

You have the option to save the application and return at a further date. It is recommended that in order to enhance your application that you include a video link.