Fuel for Thought: Limerick’s Appetite for Entrepreneurship grows stronger
Guest blog written by Kerry MacConnell, RDI hub
Chris Barrett and Andy McManagan, NDRC Regional Leads, during the NDRC Startup Sprint.
Buzzing room of innovators refining ideas and pitches at the NDRC Startup Sprint.
Startup energy lit up Limerick on Saturday 29th March, as Engine Hub played host to an unforgettable NDRC Startup Sprint. Eighty ambitious innovators from 13 counties descended on the city — some setting off as early as 4am — all with one goal in mind: to bring startup ideas to life.
Over the course of a single day, 32 teams rapidly formed through a mix of creative collaboration and fast-paced problem-solving. From these, eight made it to the finals to pitch live on stage to a panel of expert judges. Backing them every step of the way were 25 mentors, who delivered focused, practical advice to help refine pitches and sharpen each team’s value proposition. Mentors included Limerick’s own Roisin Lyons, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and ISE Co-Director, as well as NDRC Accelerator alumni Tracworx’s co-founders Chris and Fionn, also natives of the Treaty City.
The atmosphere throughout was electric. There was a sense of momentum and possibility — the kind that only comes from bringing driven, curious people together in one space. I had the chance to speak to a few of the participants about what brought them to the sprint and what they’re building. Here’s what they shared:
Puish Vaish, a data scientist with over a decade of experience, was working on Flow XDM — a tool to help startups avoid wasted time, effort and money by validating the need for their product before development begins. Asked why he’d travelled to Limerick, Puish explained:
“I believe in validating your ideas, even when you have progressed a lot… to get fresh perspective is really interesting.”
Padraig Dowdall and Margaret Power were representing SiBark, a pet safety initiative combining an IoT device with a mobile app to enhance pet protection and recovery. SiBark is currently in concept stage, but it’s already gaining traction — it was recently named Most Innovative Startup of the Year by TUS New Frontiers 2024. Padraig leads on technical development, while Margaret is focused on business strategy.
Team working on their idea during the NDRC Startup Sprint.
Emer O’Connor, a first-year Immersive Software Engineering (ISE) student at University of Limerick, was part of the team behind Career Buddy. “It’s a platform to make it easier for students to choose the right leading subjects to start them in the right direction for their career path,” she explained.
“Many students find it difficult to choose subjects and often find down the line that it wasn’t the right subject for them… On our platform, the first thing you do is a Myers-Briggs personality test and based off of that, you’d be given different options that would suit you in terms of subjects and career paths and be given more information about them… then you can book a session with one of our guidance counsellors.”
Career Buddy’s initial focus is on Transition Year students, and the plan is to offer the service through a subscription model.
Meanwhile, Carbonly founder and CEO Prashant Chauhan was developing a pitch with teammates Ved Pandey, Antra Nareng and Aƒnna Koidl. Having recently relocated from London, Prashant brings a background in sustainability and climate-focused product management.
“We are here today to represent our company, Carbonly, and we are on a mission to save this planet,” he told me. “We are helping small and medium businesses to measure and work on their carbon footprint because you cannot reduce what you cannot measure.” As well as providing carbon reporting, Carbonly aims to help SMEs access bespoke green loans.
“The mentors here have been super helpful in pointing out what we were missing in our presentation,” Prashant added. “Today is an opportunity to really test our ideas in front of everyone.”
Mentoring in place.
Also travelling from Dublin was the UrbanGrowAI team, who found the mentorship particularly valuable. “It’s the mentorship which motivated us to come here… getting access to such mentors is a great opportunity for us, that’s what made us get up very early in the morning, around four o’clock and reach here by nine,” said Raj Nadihottu.
Manikant MS agreed: “Chris and the entire team have done an amazing job. The best thing here is not about winning; you get the best mentorship here, and we found two of them. Thank you team NDRC!”
And what a mentor line-up it was — with guidance on offer from the likes of Ben Kiely (Totalcare Company Director), Emma Heaton Esposito (Dogpatch Labs Marketing Director), Founder Cuty Gupta (Cozmotec founder and CEO), Ben Sheehan (Breakthrough Match COO), Jessica Devine (Solutions Engineer), Michael O’Connor (NexGen Cyber Founder & CISO), among others.
Ailtir took home the “Most Progress” award.
The final round of pitches showcased a fascinating mix of early-stage ideas and real-world problem solving. Finalist startups included:
Carbonly – carbon measurement and reporting for SMEs
Curio – a dating app centred on shared interests
Anri – sports tracking and analysis using motion capture
AISA – an AI Sales Academy
Ailtir – AI-powered tender management for construction
Compliance – an AI compliance app with ISO integration
Refridge – tackling food waste and student food poverty
SiBark – pet safety and recovery through IoT
The winners? Ailtir took home the “Most Progress” award, while Anri was named “Overall Pitch Winner”.
Eight teams made it to the finals to pitch live on stage to a panel of expert judges.
Judge and RDI Hub CEO Liam Cronin reflected on the event with three key takeaways:
I’m struck by the appetite for innovation and entrepreneurship in rural cities like Limerick,
I’m surprised by the number of construction tech ideas, in reaction (I guess) to the housing crisis in Ireland,
The new Irish, especially Ukrainians, have great ideas which need to be nurtured.
NDRC’s presence was strong on the day, with team members from Dogpatch Labs, Republic of Work, Portershed and RDI Hub all supporting the event. Huge thanks to the wonderful Engine team in Limerick for hosting us — a top-class venue with brilliant energy.
And finally, a big shout-out to the day’s MC, NDRC regional lead Chris Barrett, who kept the tempo high and the audience engaged from start to finish. To use his own phrase… ‘Class!’
