2022
Future entrepreneurs showcase their ideas at UCC
The IGNITE programme at UCC held its Awards and Showcase where budding entrepreneurs gathered to showcase their ideas.
The winner of the IGNITE Award for Best Business on the night was Cleidi Hearn of Sunny Numbers while the Award for Best Business Plan was won by Luke Murphy of Training Reels. Monika Wojtek of Buildzon won the award for Best Pitch.
This year’s graduates included:
Monika Wojtek, Buildzon
Buildzon is an Online Building Materials Platform that enables buyers to access a network of established suppliers. The company’s platform offers real-time access to prices from multiple vendors, volume discount transparency, delivery reliability and tracking system.
Cleidi Hearn, Sunny Numbers
Sunny Numbers is an e-learning platform powered by peer support that helps to build data skills for people working with statistics.
Luke Murphy, Training Reels
Training Reels is a self-service video studio located in enterprise centres which has been described as a “photo booth for marketing videos”.
In the one hour event this evening, attendees heard start-up pitches from the start-ups who have just completed the programme. They had the opportunity to meet twenty IGNITE start-up founders who are at different stages of their start-up journey.
Prof Stephen Byrne, Deputy President and Registrar of UCC welcomed the guests.
IGNITE Director Eamon Curtin said: “We’re delighted to have this opportunity to showcase the founders who are working full-time on their start-up ideas with the support of IGNITE. We are especially pleased to also highlight the wide range of start-up supports available at UCC such as our short part-time programme, Start-Up Lab, and our hackathon, Ideas for Impact.”
Pat Healy, Manager at Bank of Ireland, chaired the adjudication panel and announced the award winners on the night.
Mr Healy said that: “Bank of Ireland is delighted to once again support IGNITE and its participants and graduates. It is an honour to be a part of the IGNITE programme and we love hearing from Ireland’s future entrepreneurs. The IGNITE programme at UCC is a fantastic opportunity for those who want to establish their own business, and we are proud to be a part of it.”
The IGNITE Graduate Business Innovation Programme is delivered by University College Cork in partnership with Bank of Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices of Cork City, South Cork and North and West Cork, Cork City Council and Cork County Council.