This year we had our inaugural TY Entrepreneur of the Year (“EOY”). The programme was run by Fiona Nagle and Orla O’Gorman and supported by David Dolan. Fiona and Orla are both experienced professionals working with start up and scaling companies seeking to raise money; and the VC investor community.
In October the girls attended a significant learning day to inspire them on entrepreneurship and leadership. During the day they learnt how to create and pitch a business plan. They also met successful entrepreneurs who openly shared their stories:
- Roisin Callaghan, HCK alumni, founder of Cogs & Marvel and a finalist in the EY EOY in 2017; and
- Susan Spence, founder of SoftCo.
The girls were given the challenge to create an ambitious, scalable business which they embraced wholeheartedly.
The entrepreneurs were busy hatching ideas, forming business teams, doing market research and allocating roles. The participating teams received 4 mentor sessions between October and January. Led by Fiona and Orla, they were also joined by guest speakers, who shared their stories and provided mentorship during these sessions:
- Jim Mountjoy, founder of Baltimore Technologies and Euristix, angel investor
- Dr Rosaland Beere, founder of ChiFit, lecturer at UCD on Strategy & Entrepreneurship
- Faye Walsh Drouillard, founder of Wakeup Capital, VC investor
On Friday we had the final where 5 business teams presented their business pitch to a panel of judges, Jim Mountjoy (Chair), Saurabh Kumar (Furthr Ventures), Fiona and Orla.
The competition was really tough and the judges had a difficult time choosing the winners! They were so impressed with the girls, the standard of their business plans and the excellent presentations.
After much deliberation the judges selected the winners as follows:
- 1st place The Exchange Academy, founded by Luce Riess Lochet, Andrea Devesa, Yuna Shinagawa and Amy Kelly.
- 2nd place CarBnB founded by Anabel Hassett and Arianne Walsh.
- Joint 3rd place – Go Switch (Anna Martin, Cara Fitzgerald, Holly Gubala, Bronagh Heinbach); Perfect Attire (Ava Edwards, Alannah Bewley) and Roster Maker (Kirsten Duffy)
Big congratulations to all the entrepreneur finalists.
The success of EOY was a team effort. A big thank you to our entrepreneurs, our speakers, mentors, business teachers and to the KPA for funding the first prize. Everyone was united in our goal to inspire the girls to be the next generation of leaders… and that is exactly what they are. Our future is bright in the hands of the girls at HCK EOY 2023.