Dublin start-up Nasal Medical claims €250,000 AIB prize

“This is a life changing prize for me,” said Martin O’Connell of Nasal Medical, the winner of the AIB Irish Times Start-up Academy 2016. “ It is a pivotal time for our business and we have grown so much, now I know we are going to just explode.”

O’Connell’s company Nasal Medical designs products for healthy breathing. “Forty per cent of the population suffer from snoring or sleep apnea,” he said, explaining that one of his products was shown in a clinical trial to reduce snoring in 96 per cent of people.

O’Connell won the top prize which is worth over €200,000 and includes: a €20,000 cash investment from AIB, substantial advertising and marketing packages, PR training, office space and development support.

The first runner up of the Academy was Lucinda Kelly and her company Popertee which finds retail “pop-up” locations for businesses is next to the stage.

The second runner up was Peter Mulryan with his company Blackwater Distillery, located on the banks of the Blackwater River in County Waterford “Ireland’s first craft whiskey and gin distillery.”

The final was held in The Sugar Club in Dublin on Thursday night where each of the finalists made their final five-minute pitches to a judging panel to try and win the Academy.

The eleven finalists in this year's Academy:
The Cool Bean Company
Blackwater Distillery
Buska Boxes
Brendan Joseph
Leaves
Rebel Chilli
Popertee
DropChef
Nasal Medical
Topper Technology
Queezybags

The judges:
John Irwin, Head of Strategy and Enablement at AIB
Viv McKechnie, Business to Business Director at The Irish Times
Brian Keating, Group Brands Director at AIB
Aisling Blake Managing Director at Radical
Elaine O'Hora, founder of Munchies
Cathal O'Sullivan, Office of the Dublin Commissioner for Start-ups