From left: Pierre Yimbog, Meg Brennan, Seán Boyle and Andrew Moore. Image: Sasko Lazarvo/Photocall Ireland
This year’s winners are Evogen, PolliKnow, SoloBook and UnitMode, showcasing their potential as successful businesses.
Four start-ups were recognised for their work, receiving awards at this year’s Phase 2 New Frontiers programme.
A total of 11 early-stage start-ups, based in the greater South Dublin area, took part in a six-month programme funded by Enterprise Ireland and delivered by IADT Media Cube in partnership with NovaUCD.
The programme culminated in a pitching session to a panel of judges at an event held in Dún Laoghaire, after which, it was announced that Evogen, PolliKnow, SoloBook, and UnitMode were this year’s winners.
The New Frontiers programme aims to accelerate early-stage businesses with strong employment, growth and international potential, which would contribute to job creation and economic activity.
Evogen, a data-driven platform that works on genetic selection in dairy farming, won the One to Watch Award.
The start-up’s co-founder Andrew Moore said he is passionate about “transforming the genetic selection process to help dairy farmers thrive”, having grown up on a farm.
He said the award is “just the beginning as Evogen focuses on aligning genetics with farm environments driving greater performance and profitability for dairy farms”.
PolliKnow won the Most Likely to Succeed Award. The start-up has developed a device using advanced sensors and computer vision to measure the presence of wild insect pollinators in their natural habitats.
The company’s co-founder Meg Brennan said: “New Frontiers has been instrumental in developing PolliKnow. The programme has given us the time, space and expert support needed to take us to the next level on our journey.”
The Best Pitch Award went to SoloBook, which is developing an AI-powered, community-driven travel platform for solo travellers to have reliable information to plan and have safe adventures.
UnitMode, which is developing a marketing SaaS platform that aims to eliminate greenwashing risks was named winner of the Most Likely to Scale Award.
Last year’s winners included Assiduous, Snappie, Push Me and AI Interpreting, which competed with nine other early-stage start-ups.
Fergal Meegan, the CEO Assiduous, was a guest speaker at this year’s event. “New Frontiers is fantastic for giving an entrepreneur time and space to figure out exactly what they are trying to do, how, what, where and when,” he said.
The next New Frontiers Programme is expected to begin in April 2025.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
