19th June 2015
Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur Competition gets underway around the country, with €2 million in investment prizes to be won
#IBYE
93 young Irish people from all over the country will win a “game-changing” investment for their own business, through Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition. That’s according to the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), who are rolling out the IBYE competition through all 31 LEO offices this month.
The enterprising winners, who must all be aged between 18 and 30, will be awarded an investment prize of between €10,000 and €20,000 each to put straight into their business or to help fund a business idea.
The competition is part of the Action Plan for Jobs and was launched recently by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny. T.D. and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr. Richard Bruton T.D. The closing date to enter online through www.ibye.ie is Friday, July 31st and the competition is only open to those aged between 18 and 30 with an existing business or with an idea for a new one.
Minister Richard Bruton said: “The prizes involved can be game-changing for a new business. The investment can be used to buy a new piece of equipment for example or it can be used to help pay the salary of a new employee joining the team. The experience of last year’s IBYE winners shows the great benefit that this competition can bring. We have a growing number of entrepreneurs here in Ireland, but we don’t have enough of them. Through Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition, we’re encouraging more young people to consider setting up a business as a career choice - and the supports on offer through IBYE can help them deliver on that”.
In last year’s IBYE competition, Philip Martin used his prize money to buy specialist machinery, helping him to open Ireland’s first tortilla-making factory in Tipperary (Winner: 2014 Best Business Idea).
The investment prize also helped Eamon Keane take on highly skilled staff at Xpreso Software in South Dublin (Winner: 2014 Best Start Up Business/ Overall Winner). The funds also helped Dean Gammell from Westmeath to expand his group booking software business into the UK (Winner: 2014 Best Established Business).
Every Local Enterprise Office (LEO) around the country has €50,000 to invest in three local businesses or start-ups. The three categories in the competition are: Best Idea (€10,000 investment prize), Best Start-Up (€20,000 investment prize) and Best Established Business (€20,000 investment prize).
In addition to investment prizes, additional supports are being offered to those entering, as Sheelagh Daly from the Local Enterprise Office explains: “Up to 500 young entrepreneurs and business owners will also be invited to take part in Business Bootcamps around the country, helping them finely tune their business plans and to learn new enterprise skills. One-to-one mentoring and business coaching will also be available, through all 31 LEOs. ”
July 31st is the deadline to enter the competition through www.ibye.ie and there are no entry fees.
Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices. Further competition details are available by searching #IBYE on social media.
ENDS
For all queries around Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur Competition, please contact Engage Ireland:
Sarah Bohan on Tel; 01 427 8388 / 087 65 39936 / office@engageireland.com
Interview opportunities are available with 2014 Winners of #IBYE and organisers.
Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur 2015 (#IBYE)
Website: www.ibye.ie (closing date to enter: July 31st 2015)
Social Media: #IBYE
Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur is a competition that is open to everyone with an innovative business idea:
· individuals
· venture teams
· partnerships
· existing businesses with a new idea
· people overseas (including Irish emigrants) who will headquarter in Ireland
The competition is broken down into three categories:
· Best New Idea (pre-trading)
· Best Start up Business (up to 24 months)
· Best Established Business (over 24 months)
Each Local Enterprise Office (LEO) is running a competition (July 31st closing date) aimed at finding winners in each of the three categories as well as an overall winner in each county. Each LEO will have a total fund of €50,000 to invest in the three winning businesses according to criteria including businesses’ investment needs.
The competition will then proceed to eight regional finals with winners identified in each category. In total, 24 finalists will be selected during the regional finals, during the judging stage. All 24 finalists will win a place at the IBYE national finals, to be held before the end of the year.
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