The IBYE competition was happening at a very important time in Strong Roots’ growth – we had just entered the U.K market and had doubled our range of products. The competition amplified everything we had going on by providing mentorship, reach and financial support. The prize money allowed us to fast track a critical piece of feasibility research identifying opportunities for us in the U.S market. I can’t thank the LEO enough for everything they do in support of local businesses.

IBYE was a not only a great experience it really challenged my future business plans and made me really think about what direction I wanted my business to develop. I found the business booth camp invaluable for picking up business ideas and discussing challenges that other entrepreneurs were experiencing. IBYE provided great National exposure for my business

The whole IBYE programme came at a great time for The Cool Bean Company and for me personally. Winning Best Start Up in the county finals was an incredible moment for Cool Beans. It’s not easy starting your own business as all entrepreneurs know so it was amazing validation for us and for the business that we’re going in the right direction. Personally, I really benefitted from the Entrepreneurs’ Bootcamp which was an amazing opportunity to step away from the day to day running of the business and focus more on the bigger picture. The energy in the room was incredible.

Winning best Irish start-up in the 2015 IBYE competition was one of the highlights of our short entrepreneurial careers. There were immediate tangible benefits for our company as many partnership opportunities arose from the PR fallout of the program finale.
Moreover, we still have strong ties with a lot of the other competing entrepreneurs we met during the program and the value of these relationships will only increase over time. IBYE was an overwhelmingly positive experience that gave a feeling of being connected within the Irish start-up ecosystem. I would encourage any young Irish entrepreneur to participate, at the very least you will learn

The IBYE Competition was a fantastic opportunity to engage with fellow young entrepreneurs. The competition enabled us to develop our business plan with assistance from the Local Enterprise Office and to fine tune our investment proposal. I would highly recommend the IBYE Competition to any young entrepreneur looking to set up or develop their business.

Partaking in the IBYE competition and winning the national title was a truly incredible experience and will not be soon forgotten. I learnt a great deal about myself, met some fantastic people who I now call friends and built and developed a deeper understand of my business that has resulted in far reaching benefits.

I got so much support from the IBYE Program; the advice, workshops, funding and, above all, benefitting from a great network of like-minded entrepreneurs. The program helped our business share its message with people diagnosed with Parkinson’s and to scale up our R & D to enhance our impact in the marketplace. We recommend all young entrepreneurs to apply for the IBYE initiative.