BioAtlantis

May 5, 2022

Image: © Lance Bellers/Stock.adobe.com EY Ireland has revealed finalists in the running for its Entrepreneur of the Year award. Check out who’s made the list from the tech world. Every year, EY Ireland names an Entrepreneur of the Year from a long list of Irish business founders and leaders making a mark at home and abroad alike. Finalists from across the island are competing for this prestigious award yet again, with entrepreneurs across a range of sectors, including technology, manufacturing, energy and health, competing in three categories: emerging, established and international. Last year’s top spot was picked up by Brian O’Sullivan of Zeus Packaging, with the founders of big Irish names such as Flipdish and LetsGetChecked in the running. Here we take a closer look at all the Irish tech entrepreneurs in this year’s EY finalist list that are taking their businesses to new heights in Ireland and across the world. John Harkin, Alchemy Technology Services Founded in Derry in 2018, Alchemy Technology Services is a insurtech start-up that provides insurance software implementation services to insurance companies across Europe. And at the helm is Derry-native John Harkin, who founded Alchemy when he saw a demand for specialist skills to help the insurance industry through its digital transformation. Allan Beechinor and Niamh Parker, Altada Cork-based Altada is a fast-growing deep learning and AI start-up that was founded by CEO Allan Beechinor and chief legal officer Niamh Parker four years ago. Altada has developed its own proprietary deep learning algorithms, predictive models, computer perception algorithms and knowledge extraction systems to help clients deploy and execute AI in their businesses. Its name pays homage to the world’s first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace . Alan Carson, Cloudsmith Cloudsmith is a software start-up that helps businesses manage software on the cloud – removing the need to hire in-house support staff and cutting down on expenses. Based in Belfast, the company was founded by Alan Carson and Lee Skillen, both of whom are former NYSE developers. Carson is also the CEO of Cloudsmith, which raised $15m in Series A funding last September to expand in the US. Caroline Dunlea, Core Optimisation Caroline Dunlea is the co-founder and CEO or digital marketing start-up Core Optimisation , which helps businesses across the tourism, hospitality and retail sectors in their digital transformation. It has offices in Shannon, where it was founded in 2015, as well as Dublin and London. Helen Cahill, InvoiceFair InvoiceFair is an invoice trading platform that was developed by Helen Cahill and Philip Hickey in 2015. Based in Dublin, the start-up helps companies with approved invoices or purchase orders from blue-chip or State companies to raise funds and complete the deals. Notably, the fintech saw an increase in activity in 2020 when it facilitated funding of €30m of PPE orders, according to the Irish Times . Stephen Nolan, Nutritics Having recently opened its Australian headquarters in Sydney this April, Irish software start-up Nutritics has been expanding rapidly. Founded in 2013 by brothers Damian and Ciarán O’Kelly, Nutritics has its Irish headquarters in Swords, Co Dublin, but has had a presence in the Australian market since 2017 and now has around 500 clients in the country. Stephen Nolan has been the COO of the company since 2014 and now serves as its managing director. Fionn Lahart and Christoph Hennersperger, OneProjects OneProjects is an Irish-German medtech that is known for its Verafeye device , which helps doctors treat atrial fibrillation using advanced imaging and data analytics. It was founded by CEO Fionn Lahart and CTO Christoph Hennersperger in 2017 as a spin-out from BioInnovate in Galway, and now has offices in Dublin and Munich. In October 2021, OneProjects raised $17m in fresh financing from a Series A2 funding round and Irish and European grants. Justin Lawless, Intact Justin Lawless is the CEO of Intact, a software development company based in Dundalk, Co Louth, that has been around since 1992. Intact, which also has offices in Cork, Bray and the UK, makes enterprise resource planning and business management software for companies. The company expanded significantly in Ireland and the UK last year, when it announced new jobs that would bring its headcount in the two isles to around 200. John O’Sullivan, BioAtlantis BioAtlantis  is an Irish biotech company headquartered in Tralee, Co Kerry, which develops natural compounds that improve plant, animal and human health. Founded by chartered accountant John O’Sullivan in 2004, BioAtlantis received substantial early investments from the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Fund. Jamie O’Rourke, Mainline Jamie O’Rourke is the CEO of Cork-based Mainline Group , a utility solutions provider to those servicing power, water, telecom and energy sectors operating in Ireland, the UK and Scandinavia. O’Rourke had been the managing director of the company since shortly after it was founded in 1999. Mainline’s clients include Vodafone, SSE Airtricity and Energia. Martin McKay, Texthelp Martin McKay is CEO elect at Belfast-based education technology company Texthelp . He was one of the founding members of business, which was set up in 1996 to help people with communication difficulties. Its literacy, accessibility and dyslexia software products are used in both the education and corporate sectors by millions of people around the world. Aidan Corbett and Jack Pierse, Wayflyer Wayflyer is fast becoming a household name in the Irish tech world, after it whizzed past the billion-dollar mark to become Ireland’s sixth and latest unicorn. The revenue-based financing and growth platform for e-commerce companies was founded by Aidan Corbett and Jack Pierse in 2019. In April,  Wayflier announced plans to grow its global headcount from 250 to 600 by the end of the year across its offices in Dublin, Atlanta, London and Sydney. 10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the  Daily Brief , Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.