IDEATE Ireland has announced the winners of their 2022 business competition. The announcement was held at a reception in the US Ambassador’s residence. IDEATE’s business plan competition is designed to uncover and empower Ireland’s newest generation of entrepreneurs and venture developers, aiming to enhance connection, mutual understanding, and cooperation between different communities on the Island of Ireland.Congratulating the finalists, US Ambassador to Ireland, Claire D. Cronin, said: “I am delighted to celebrate entrepreneurship and innovation from third-level institutions across Ireland. Ireland’s startup ecosystem has a reputation for being diverse and welcoming with an excellent network of supports, incubators, and accelerators that provide mentoring to early-stage companies. The U.S. Embassy looks forward to supporting the IDEATE Ireland awardees with their global ambition and expansion into the United States through our SelectUSA programme.”Who are the IDEATE Winners?The ten top contenders participated in a ten-week mentoring and support programme to help consolidate their ideas. This week Dr Mark O’Sullivan and Dr Alison O’Shea of Neurobell were announced overall winners. Neurobell is developing a pocket-sized brain monitor designed to detect seizures in newborn infants. The pair claimed a €15K prize fund.The Neurobell technology is designed to be used by all neonatal ICU staff, ensuring timely monitoring and treatment of seizures in babies.Speaking of the programme, Dr Mark O’Sullivan said: “The IDEATE Ireland programme really pushed us to challenge our market assumptions by completing customer discovery across different stakeholder groups. We now have a clear understanding of where the clinical need for our technology is greatest and how best to target that market. It is a key milestone in getting us ready for private investment, and winning the competition will provide us with the momentum and support to bring our product to market successfully.”IDEATE runner-ups also announcedThe first runner-up prize went to Sarusha Pillay and Dr Fergus McCarthy of pHetalSafe, a new technology seeking to detect and prevent fetal hypoxia and assess fetal well-being during labour. The pair won a €7K prize fund.A Challenge Selecting WinnersJoint winners were announced for the third-place spot. The two teams split the €5K prize money between them. In joint third place was Nick Cotter of Cotter Agritech, which developed a system that uses advanced algorithms to help farmers transition from blanket treating animals with antiparasitic drugs to precise applications targeting only the animals that need treatment and avoiding wastage.Sharing third place with Nick Cotter were Dr Fiona McGillicuddy and Dr Rachel Byrne of MetHEALTH, which provides a biomarker-based risk-stratification platform and associated digital health solution, which can identify patients with complications of obesity, a major problem in modern Ireland.IDEATE Ireland co-founder, Helen Fullen said: “The standard of submissions was exceptionally high. We were particularly pleased to note a significant number of female-led applications (43%) and growing number originating from Northern Ireland (26%). Applicants represented a cross-section of sectors from Agri-Tech, to E-Commerce, HealthTech, MarTech and Communications”.Ms Fullen continued: “We also had excellent support from the academic institutions across the country; this year’s cohort came from the CeADAR Research Centre, INFANT Research Centre, National University of Ireland Galway, NovaUCD, Queen’s University Belfast, Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, and the University of Limerick. Congratulations to all of our finalists and winners. We look forward to continuing to support them on the next stage of their entrepreneurial journey and are proud to add them to our impressive alumni group.”IDEATE Ireland is open to students at the undergraduate, graduate, and research levels, from any...