Start-ups to battle it out to find Ireland’s best business idea

Four Irish start-ups have been selected to fight it out in a competition to find the country’s most scalable business idea.

The winner of the One2Watch competition will be given the opportunity to pitch their idea to 1,200 attendees at the forthcoming FutureScope conference in Dublin. In addition, they will also be offered a desk at the Guinness Enterprise Centre, consultancy services and €2,000 in prize money.

The four finalists – WeSavvy, ProVerum Medical, Skytango and Hexafly – have been chosen from 58 early-stage businesses to persuade a panel of judges of the need for their particular product or service.

The judges include Dragons' Den panellist and East Coast Bakehouse cofounder Alison Cowzer, National Digital Research Centre director Gary Leyden, DCU Ryan Academy chief executive Eoghan Stack and DIT Hothouse incubation centre manager Bernadette O'Reilly.

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WeSavvy is a cloud-based digital insurance platform developed by Hesus Inoma and Ciara O'Grady that helps people get cheaper health cover by accessing additional data from apps and wearables on physical activities such as running and cycling.

Aerial drone footage

ProVerum, which is led by Dr Conor Harkin and Dr Ríona Ni Ghriallais, has developed a minimally invasive treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) – a condition affecting urethra function.

Skytango, a company founded by Emmy Award-winning producers Steven Flynn and Susan Talbot, offers a library of aerial drone footage that can be accessed by video content creators.

Lastly, the biotech start-up, Hexafly, takes low-value vegetative waste and converts it into sustainable, natural commodities. Established by Darren Brennan, Alvan Hunt, Patrick McGarvey and John Lynam, the company provides an environmentally friendly cleantech solution to problems and issues facing the animal feed and fertiliser markets.

The four companies will be pitching to the judges at the FutureScope event with the eventual winner then going on to showcase their idea to all attendees.

FutureScope, which promotes collaboration between entrepreneurs and large enterprises, is taking place at the Convention Centre on Wednesday, May 10th.

The event, organised by Dublin BIC, features more than 90 speakers and panellists, including Ryanair chief technology officer John Hurley, Currency Fair founder Brett Meyers and VoxPro chief executive Dan Kiely.