[dropcap]A[/dropcap] 3-D biotechnology company have won the UCD Start Up of the Year award at UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme Awards, netting €32,000 worth of prizes.
Six UCD Start-up companies competed on November 21st at the UCD Nova centre as part of the UCD Venturelaunch programme, which aims to “support the creation and to accelerate the launch, of sustainable and profitable new ventures based on intellectual property emerging from UCD.”
Naiad is a UK-based company which focused on a liquid based 3d bioprinter which will help researchers fabric 3d tissue models that better mimic the complexity of human tissue, from the schools of Biomolecular Science and Physics.
The start-up companies, Illumino, Gogii, Naiad, Output Sports, Pace-Man and Proveye are seeking €6.5 million in funding between them. Each made elevator pitches to an audience of prominent members of Ireland’s industry, tech and business communities as well as representatives of many state agencies.
Kogii are currently developing a smart bike light, with the intention of reducing accidents involving cyclists by monitoring the environment around the bike and triggering different lighting patterns to maximise visibility. One of the founders is a PhD student in the school of computer science.
Illumino are developing a light therapy and sleep-aid technology with a virtual window, from the UCD school of Psychology and the school of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy.
Output Sports created a single sensor to track multiple components of an athletes performance by “combining rich data sets, signal processing and machine learning to assess all components of athletic performance using a single wearable sensor to create systems, built on a foundation of scientific validity”.
Pace-Man is an adaptive training and racing platform to aid runners in training and pacing for races, all through a single app. They also allow training for a specific event, such as London Marathon.
ProvEye is are working on advanced software to analyse photos taken by drones to help farms make more informed decisions, coming from members of the School of Biosystems and Food Engineering.
They were judged by an external examination panel, and the winner Naiad received a cheque for €10000, alongside a professional services package to the value of €10000 as well and an incubation space at NovaUCD, valued at over €12,000.
Naiad was founded by Professor Brian Rodriguez and Assistant Professor Emmanuell Reynaud.
Alexander Barrett
Image credit: AHECS