Mark O’Sullivan of NeuroBell knows this. He was last week named the High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) Founder of the Year at an awards event at the Salesforce Tower in Dublin on Thursday.
NeuroBell is a medical device start-up based in Cork. Founded in 2023, its first product, Luna, is a portable brain monitor with AI-powered seizure detection.
Founders from any sector can apply to the programme
Mark O’Sullivan was among the 38 entrepreneurs who recently completed the HPSU Founders Forum run by Enterprise Ireland.
This six-month programme is designed to enable HPSU founders to scale faster, so they can succeed internationally.
Founders from any sector can apply to the programme once their business is already an Enterprise Ireland-designated HPSU. In the past, founders have come from such sectors as digital tech, life sciences, fintech, food, engineering and construction.
This year marks the 10th year of the Founders Forum programme, which is delivered in partnership with Select Strategies. More than 480 founders have taken part so far, with each getting to strengthen their start-up strategy and hone their entrepreneurial skills.
They left the programme with a 12-month growth plan and a roadmap to put it into practice.
The programme features in-person sessions, which include insights workshops, and meetings of the founder group, which is comprised of all the participants that year.
Those taking part find these peer supports invaluable, as founders often encounter similar challenges – regardless of the sector in which they operate.
?Guest speakers, seasoned entrepreneurs and experts also share insights on the programme. Each participant also benefits from three one-on-one online sessions with a founder group coach.
Those who complete the programme are eligible for the Founder of the Year award, which was judged this year by Andreea Wade, general partner at Delta Partners VC; Brian Shields, CEO and co-founder of Neurent Medical; and Tom Cusack, divisional manager of industrial and life sciences at Enterprise Ireland.
The other four finalists in this year’s award included Senus, which was founded in 2017 as a spin-out from a University of Galway research project. It specialises in environmental impact measurement, reporting and verification technology.
Pilot Path offers would-be pilots a single unified path to qualification by marrying its bespoke technology platform with a consortium of partner universities, flight schools and airlines.
Assiduous has developed a corporate finance autopilot, a virtual advisory team to support business owners. The company is building an AI engine to power small and medium-sized businesses through strategic, financing and liquidity transactions.
Marama Labs develops analytical tools to help biotech companies create mRNA medicines. Its patented CloudSpec instrument measures the drug content of complex liquid formulations in seconds.
Early-stage Enterprise Ireland HPSU clients interested in taking part in the next HPSU Founder Forum can check their eligibility with their client advisor.
?Sharon Wang is an executive in the leadership, talent & skills department at Enterprise Ireland
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