Eleven Founders Graduate From New Frontiers In South Dublin (IADT & NovaUCD)

A showcase event to mark the conclusion of New Frontiers at IADT & NovaUCD was held at the end of September and saw 11 startup founders graduate from the programme’s six-month full-time Phase 2.

The founders from across South Dublin showcased their businesses in IADT’s Carnegie Library, competing for one of five awards. Members of the local and national startup ecosystem, including representatives from IADT, UCD, Enterprise Ireland, and the Local Enterprise Offices, were in attendance to celebrate this important entrepreneurial milestone with them.

The award-winning founders were:

• Best Pitch award: Beth Pereira of Cavallore
• One to Watch award: Gearoid Keegan of Hedj
• Most Likely to Scale award: Alistair Bunch of GNV
• Most Innovative award: Susie Kilcoyne of Locket AI Labs
• Most Likely to Succeed award: Jenny Kilbride of MyLaw

Highlighting the role of New Frontiers in supporting founders, the National Programme Manager at Enterprise Ireland, Ciara Concannon, said that it “gives early-stage entrepreneurs a fully supported six-month period in which to work on their innovative business idea, to take it from idea stage to investment. It’s where we sow the seeds for the next wave of high-potential startups coming from Ireland that will be internationally traded.”

The programme in South Dublin has been run by the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dún Laoghaire in partnership with NovaUCD for the past five years. In that time, the programme has supported 301 startup founders, who have created 197 jobs and secured €23.3 million in funding for their businesses.

New Frontiers cohort in South Dublin

Speaking about the programme at IADT & NovaUCD, Programme Manager Susanne L’Estrange commented, “We give founders the time, expertise, networks and practical support to test their ideas, challenge their thinking and build stronger, more investment-ready businesses. By the end of the programme, founders have not only greater clarity about where they are going, but have the confidence, capability and connections to take their businesses forward.”

The graduates from South Dublin are:

• Alister Bunch of GNV – a B2B platform providing real-time, end-to-end supply chain traceability
• Anudari Baatartsogt of LumanieCX – streamlining M&E engineering workflows with intelligence
• Beth Pereira of Cavallore – an AI-driven digital equine injury management system
• Jack Garvey of Ganzy – a study planner for neurodiversity
• Flavia Macruz of ESG Data Core – all ESG data in one hub
• Gearoid Keegan of Hedj – an assessable risk management system for small and mid-sized companies
• Helen O’Shea of Wealth Wisdom – financial planning
• Jenny Kilbride of MyLaw – a legal platform for commercial contracts
• Max Crinion Morgan of RespEire – a medical device startup developing a respiratory rate device
• Damien O’Rourke of LR Music – vocal analytics for dedicated singers
• Susie Kilcoyne of Locket AI Labs – an AI agent and community-powered e-commerce retention infrastructure that replaces static marketing rules with real-time personalised customer experiences

Best of luck to these founders as they take the next steps with their businesses!

Calling startup founders near South Dublin

The New Frontiers programme in South Dublin is a dual-location programme run from the Media Cube at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dún Laoghaire in partnership with NovaUCD. The Programme Manager in South Dublin is Susanne L’Estrange. Find out more about Susanne or see our upcoming application deadlines.