The competition was intense at the Final of the Eden Ideas&Pitch competition last Friday morning, as the seven finalists pitched their business plans to the panel of judges online via Microsoft Teams. The projects were innovative and original and the judges were, justifiably, impressed by the quality of the business plans that were presented.
The judging panel were; Dr Karen Griffin: Commercialisation Executive from MaynoothWorks, Jeff Walsh: Senior Product Manager, New Business & Markets ESB, Joe Moore: MaynoothWorks Manager and Dr Iain Macdonald: Head of the department of Design Innovation.
The panel were very impressed with the detailed business plans and strong presentations especially during these exceptional times we find ourselves in. It was a tough decision with not a lot between each of the projects, eventually the decision was made;
In first place – Damon Flynn with his adjustable wheelchair idea – FOWLER (receiving €5000)
Second Place – Harry French with EVE – a shelf life tracker for fresh food (receiving €3000)
Third Place – Eoin Kelly with OWN – a technology device for people with intellectual disabilities (receiving €1000)
Each of the remaining contestants; Jane Carroll, Charlie Harding, James Leppla and Adam McDermott received a 4th place prize of €250 for their project ideas.
The judges made some extremely flattering comments with many future possible connections being made with Maynooth Works and the University Commercialisation Office. Dr Iain Macdonald concluded with "It's one thing having a great idea, but then what makes these winners so strong is the user research and business planning behind them."
We wish to say a special thank you to our annual sponsors Kildare Local Enterprise Office and McCann Fitzgerald with support also from Enterprise Ireland. We are indebted to Jacqui McNabb and her team at Kildare Local Enterprise Office for their valued support and advice throughout the competition.
On behalf of the EDEN Centre we would like to say thank you to all who entered the competition this year we hope to see you next year.