Start-ups to battle it out over Ireland’s most scalable business idea

Four companies selected for final of One2Watch competition at FutureScope

FutureScope One2Watch 2018 Finalists (L-R) Ronan Kelly, founder and CEO, Bespoke Choice; Barry Murphy, CTO, Electrical Analytics; Lucy O’Keeffe, co-founder and CEO, CroiValve; Fergal O’Connor, founder and CEO, Buymedia.
FutureScope One2Watch 2018 Finalists (L-R) Ronan Kelly, founder and CEO, Bespoke Choice; Barry Murphy, CTO, Electrical Analytics; Lucy O’Keeffe, co-founder and CEO, CroiValve; Fergal O’Connor, founder and CEO, Buymedia.

Four Irish start-ups have been chosen to face off against each other in the finals of 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 - CroíValve, electrical Analytics, Bespoke Choice and BuyMedia - have been chosen from 49 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 co-founder Alison Cowzer, Joe Healy, manager of Enterprise Ireland's high potential start-up unit, Mary McSweeney, deputy head of enterprise and economic development of LEO Dublin City; PJ Dwyer, HBAN business angel and former Senior VP of Dell, and Alan Merriman, founder, Elkstone Venture Capital.

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ProVerum Medical, which won last year’s One2Watch competition, has gone on to close a $4.2 million (€3.49 million) seed investment round.

CroíValve, which is led by Lucy O’Keeffe, is an early stage medical device company, that has developed a device to treat a common heart valve disorder - tricuspid regurgitation (TR), without the need for surgery.

Electrical Analytics, a spinout from the Applied Physics Research Group in Trinity College Dublin, has developed a power quality monitoring system, backed by a cloud-based data analysis platform that enables power grid operators to have complete visibility over their entire distribution network.

Cavan-headquartered Bespoke Choice has developed an online sales platform that helps venues to increase their annual number of wedding bookings and the average revenue per event.

BuyMedia, which is based in Co Mayo, provides SMEs with a platform that enables them to better plan, purchase, manage and monitor their advertising across multiple media channels.

FutureScope, which promotes collaboration between entrepreneurs and large enterprises, is taking place at the Convention Centre in Dublin on May 31st.

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor is a former Irish Times business journalist