iHub Mayo enjoyed a very productive 2023

2023 proved to be a very busy year for Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Innovation Hub in Mayo, which was celebrating its 17th birthday. 

ATU Innovation Hub is a centre that offers space to start-up businesses and also runs two entrepreneurship programmes, New Frontiers and the EMPOWER Programme.

The year kicked off with the Empower Cumasú programme, run jointly between ATU iHub Mayo and Údarás na Gaeltachta. The aim of the programme is to fast-track female-led businesses based in the Gaeltacht areas of Galway and Mayo by offering free training, mentoring, support and peer-to-peer learning. Thirteen women completed the programme with a further five going on to do an extension programme later in 2023. Some of these businesses include Margaret Leahy from www.irishartisanfoods.net, Letitia Hill with Connemara Creative Arts Centre, Emily Lavelle with Railway House in Achill, Elaine Dunne of www.giftslegra.com (online gift boxes) and Siobhan Leigh who designs and makes custom made children’s clothes – www.whiterosecreations.com. 

In funding news, Cytidel, a client company of iHub Mayo, recently got approved for €1.35 million in seed funding which was led by Elkstone Ventures with participation from Enterprise Ireland. The cybersecurity start-up has built a risk management platform that offers real-time vulnerability intelligence to help companies prioritise fixing the most important flaws in their systems.

Paul Walsh, with his team in Tarracor Robotics, recently received €100,000 from the Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF) from Enterprise Ireland. They have developed a robot to replace manual tractors in golf driving ranges and golf courses. Paul participated in New Frontiers 2022. His first customer in Florida will be one of many to take advantage of this technology.

Fergal Dunne, from Ellaro, recently obtained Agile Funding for their new product, invoicechecker.ie, and Full Health Medical also obtained Agile Funding. Agile Funding enables innovative businesses to transform their ideas into impact and shape the future of business, technology and society.

New clients also came to the centre during the year and they included Neuronic who develop wellness devices that send out near-infrared light. Clinical research has shown that near-infrared light positively impacts memory, movement and mood stability. The company develops light therapy equipment, specifically a helmet-like device that has 256 Near-infrared LEDs inside. Light therapy involves the use of these LEDs to deliver specific wavelengths of light that can be absorbed by cells in the body. The main benefits are increasing blood flow and cellular energy, and reducing inflammation. In its first year on the market, Neuronic has helped over 350 customers across 23 countries.

Several other new clients joined ATU iHub, including Onawave Medical, which is developing technology in the area of women’s health. It received European Innovation Council Transition Funding in November 2022. Another new client is Ingenium, which works in the area of engineering and project water services and is researching the use of AI for the water sector.

In 2023, New Frontiers celebrated 10 years across the country. Some former New Frontiers clients in Mayo include Sorcha O'Grady and Jens Hellberg from Truckscience, David McIntyre from Cubbie, Mark Corrigan from Marine Cable Services, Liam Feeney from Spottrack, Anne Walsh from Allergy Lifestyle, Fergal O'Connor from Buy Media, and Eoin Heverin, Foodie Savie. Four new participants joined phase two of this programme in August 2023. These include Bhibhinn McKenzie, Jamie Clabburn, Martin Parsons and Noel O'Malley.

Some of the ATU iHub's previous female participants featured in the Irish Independent Christmas Gift 2023 Guide. They included Superfolk, based at ATU iHub Mayo, which is producing items from your home that are considered simple and sustainable (www.superfolk.com). Ella and Jo Cosmetics also featured and won numerous awards this year and recently set up a pop-up shop in London (www.ellaandjo.ie).

ATU iHub Mayo hosted its annual Spirit of Entrepreneurship evening once again with Harry Huges from Portwest taking centre stage along with Colm O'Brien from Carabola, Tracey Sweeney from Tracey Sweeney Fine Art, Helen Nolan from Spraoi agus Spórt, Matthew Conlon from Cytidel and Noreen Hackett from Advanced Cosmetics.

iHub Mayo works closely with ATU Mayo Campus and welcomed a lovely bunch of budding Transition Year students under the Young Entrepreneur Programme in 2023. The TY students got to meet and chat to two other entrepreneurs in the building that day.

Anyone looking for more information on ATU iHub Mayo can check out https://atuihubs.ie or check out its programmes at www.empowerprogramme.ie or www.newfrontiers.ie