Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister Bruton launch Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur competition 2015 in CHQ, Dublin
Budding entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 30 are being invited to to apply to be in with a chance of being crowned Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur 2015. The national competition, with an overall prize fund of €2 million, encourages young people to enter their outstanding business idea for a start-up or existing business.
Part of Government's Action Plan for Jobs, Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur is in its second year, and is run by the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) network.
Out of an overall prize fund of €2 million, up to €50,000 will be awarded to 3 winners in each county. The winners at national level can then receive up to an additional €50,000 and over 400 young entrepreneurs will also win places at regional Business Bootcamps with mentoring supports, to further develop their business skills.
Last year over 1,100 young people applied to IBYE, with 93 young entrepreneurs throughout every county in Ireland winning cash investments for their businesses.
Interested in finding out more about the competition and how to apply? Read on....
What is IBYE?
The aim of Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur is to encourage and support entrepreneurship as a career choice and to encourage Ireland’s young people to set up and develop new innovative businesses. This is hugely important for job creation as two thirds of all new jobs are generated by businesses in the first five years of existence – more start-ups and a thriving entrepreneurial culture will lead to more jobs being created.
Mentoring, marketing and other supports are also available to participating businesses at various stages of the competition.
Who can apply?
The competition is open to individuals aged between 18 and 30 and will be judged under three distinct categories:
- Best business idea (best idea for a new business)
- Best start-up business (in business for less than 24 months)
- Best established business (in business for longer than 24 months and in a position to further develop the existing business)
Read full IBYE eligibility criteria here.
How does IBYE work?
The first stage is a county-based competition through the Local Enterprise Offices, leading to the naming of the Best Young Entrepreneur in each county. 93 county winners will go on to compete at Regional Level. 24 Regional Winners will then be announced at eight regional finals and progress to the National Final. At the National Final one young business-person will be crowned Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur later in the year, with National Winners awarded in each of the three categories.
Application Stage – May – 31st July 2015
Submit Online Application and optional video before 31st July 2015.
Screening Process Stage – August 2015
Applicants are screened on assessment criteria. Participants selected for County Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Entrepreneur Bootcamp Stage – September 2015
County Finalists will complete a specialised Entrepreneur Bootcamp to help develop the skills required to take an entrepreneurial idea from concept stage to reality and to build a viable business plan to commercialise the opportunity.
Final Pitch and County Finals Stage – September/October 2015
Participants from the Entrepreneur Bootcamp will submit their final business plan and make a pitch to the County Assessment Panel. This Panel will consist of a minimum of three judges to be selected by the Local Enterprise Office. Three Category Winners and from these Winners one overall County Winner will be selected. All three Winners will progress to the Regional Final.
Regional Finals Stage – October 2015
In total 93 County Winners will progress to the Regional Finals. Each Regional Finalist will receive additional mentoring and business support prior to making a pitch to the Regional Assessment Panel. In total 24 Category Winners will be selected to progress to the National Final
National Final Stage – December 2015
The 24 Finalists will compete for the three National Category Awards for Best Business Idea, Best Start Up Business and Best Established Business. In addition Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur for 2015 will be announced.
How can I apply?
The competition is free to enter, and further information is available from LEOs nationwide as well as at www.ibye.ie. The deadline to apply for this year’s Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition is Friday, 31 July.
Find your Local Enterprise Office.
IBYE 2014 in numbers
- Overall investment fund of €2 million for county and national winners
- 1,100 applicants from 18 to 30 years of age
- 400 attended regional bootcamps
- 93 young entrepreneurs throughout every county in Ireland won cash investments for their businesses
- 24 finalists from 17 counties
- 9 live pitches to the judging panel in the final round
- 3 overall winners
Who won Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur last year?
Eamon Keane of Xpreso software in South Dublin was awarded the top prize and title in 2014, along with a €50,000 investment prize for his business.
Philip Martin from Blanco Nino in Tipperary won the ‘Best New Idea’ award and €20,000 investment prize while Dean Gammell from The Group System in Westmeath won ‘Best Established Business with Add On’ award and €30,000 investment prize. Each of the three finalists also wins a place at the Google ‘Adopt a Start Up’ programme next year.
Find out more about the winners of IBYE 2014 here.
Following winning the title of Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur 2014, we spoke to Eamon Keane of Expreso. Find out more about what advice he would give to young entrepreneurs setting up a business and his experience of the competition here.
Want to follow the competition?
Further updates about Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur and YouTube videos for each of the national finalists are available through www.ibye.ie, by searching #ibye on social media or by following @ibye_2015 on Twitter.
The official IBYE channel on YouTube is www.youtube.com/user/IBYEire