Student Entrepreneur Competition
The NUI Maynooth Commercialisation Office hosts an annual Student Entrepreneur Competition, with a prize fund of €10,000 sponsored by Bank of Ireland Maynooth and McCann Fitzgerald Solicitors.
The "Dragon's Den" competition tests the participants ability to generate a good idea, develop a business plan taking their product to market, demonstrate an understanding of the financial elements including the all important cash-flow and finally presenting their idea through several rounds of competition through to the final which is judged by external "dragons".
2012 Competition Winners
1st Prize €6,000 - Ollwyn Moran - Creeper Crawlers
2nd Prize €3,000 - Niamh Hamrock - Jigit
3rd Prize €2,500 - Sarah Gillespie - Dramafit
4th Prize €500 · Amy Keith and Paul Doran - Pepper
Sponsors for the fifth consecutive year were Bank of Ireland Maynooth, McCann Fitzgerald Solicitors and FRKelly Patent Attorneys.
From left, Conor Boyce FRKelly; Sarah Gillespie DramaFit; Teresa Gorman Bank of Ireland; Niamh Hamrock Jigit Puzzles; Owen Laverty Commercialisation;
Paul Lavery McCann’s; Ollwyn Moran Creeper Crawlers; Conor Mallaghan Carton; Amy Keith & Paul Doran Pepper.
2011 Competition Winners:
1st Prize (€6,000) Alvaro Palomo Navarro of eBitez
2nd Prize (€3,000) Paul Kavanagh of Momentum
Joint 3rd Prize (€500) HorseBase, Kevin Quinn and Martin Lonergan
Joint 3rd Prize (€500) Pro-Design Embroidery, Keith Walsh and Mark Reynolds
Competitors and judging dragons of the 2011 Student Entrepreneur Competition
2010 Competition Winner:
Fintan Lalor of Mint Bespoke Clothing - a company offering a custom suit service, currently employing 2 people.
2009 Competition Winner:
Nicole Holmes and Aida Ennis of Lingua Franca (now Modern Languages) - a company offering teaching and translation services, employing 10 people in 2010.