PurOrigin’s Finbarr Maguire and David Ronan, the winners of the NovaUCD 2012 start-up award.

The company designs and develops new energy-efficient domestic appliances.

Its initial product PurDry targets a niche in the tumble dryer market, offering a product with lower energy consumption, CO2 emissions and running costs than a conventional tumble dryer.

It requires no plumbing and can be folded for storage. PurOrigin was also awarded a €20,000 prize fund after winning University College Dublin’s 17th NovaUCD Campus Company Development Programme, which supports academic and research entrepreneurs in developing ventures to a commercial stage.

Some 190 ventures have come through the programme, which is supported by Enterprise Ireland, since its establishment in 1996.