News & Events

Minister Bruton announces finalists to represent Ireland at the European ClimateLaunchpad Final

The “A Green Space to Innovate” event kick started the “Sustainability Gathering 2015” and took place on Monday, the 22nd of June, 2015 at the CHQ Building, Custom House Quay, Dublin.

The event showcased innovative cleantech entrepreneurs, and hosted the national final of the ClimateLaunchpad competition.

The ClimateLaunchpad programme is managed by Climate-KIC, the EU’s main climate innovation initiative.

The three finalists wasteNOT, Boltz Secret Seeds and Agri Grow Lights were announced by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, and will represent Ireland at the European ClimateLaunchpad Final The European Final will take place in Amsterdam on the 4th of September 2015 and Start-ups from 28 countries will compete in it.

Announcing the finalists, Minister Richard Bruton, T.D. remarked: “The green economy is an important economic pillar for Ireland’s continued growth and prosperity and is a key sector which we have targeted as part of our Action Plan for Jobs. We are determined to nurture and support more entrepreneurs and start-up businesses in this area. Ireland’s participation in ClimateLaunchpad is a wonderful opportunity to position our cleantech entrepreneurs to take advantage of global opportunities.”

Cleantech entrepreneurs are establishing businesses that respond to global challenges such as climate change and resource (energy, water) scarcity. By their nature entrepreneurs and start-up companies are demonstrating leadership by taking brave decisions to develop their business and have a global impact.

Frans Nauta, Deputy Director Entrepreneurship Climate-KIC and founder of ClimateLaunchpad: “Across Europe hundreds of good ideas were submitted for ClimateLaunchpad 2015. It’s great to see so many start-ups with outstanding cleantech innovations that combat climate change. This competition trains teams to develop and sell their ideas. We see lots of opportunities for them to achieve global impact with their businesses.”

ENDS

Issued on behalf of the Sustainability Gathering 2015 by Heneghan PR
For further information please contact:
Eoghan Ó Neachtain/Celine Heemskerk
Heneghan PR
Tel: (01) 660 7395 
Email: Eoghan@hpr.ie  / celine@hpr.ie  
Note for Editors:

About the Sustainability Gathering: 
Chaired by Pat Cox, Ireland’s third annual Sustainability Gathering defines the sustainability investment ecosystem for Ireland and aims to celebrate Irish Innovation across finance, enterprise and talent activities. It will provide an opportunity for hundreds of investors, entrepreneurs and policy-makers from Ireland and across the globe to explore the opportunities in this field. Ultimately, the event aims to facilitate the transactions that will steer capital towards investments that are environmentally and socially sustainable and also make an attractive return. The 2015 Sustainability Gathering will be spread over three-days with the plenary session taking place on the 24th June in the Printworks, Dublin Castle.
For further information on the event and to consult the agenda please visit www.sustainabilitygathering.ie/

The three National ClimateLaunchpad Finalists:
wasteNOT is a technology to enable the consumer to efficiently manage their food by reducing waste and saving money. A combination of innovative labelling, ICT and a smart phone app will automatically maintain an inventory of current food by expiry date and send push notifications of food that needs eating with suggested recipes. The founders Eoin White, Tom Oldfield and Nick Holden, have a dream to enable sustainable food systems globally.
About the team: The three team members have a passion for system thinking and sustainability. Tom Oldfield is carrying out a PhD in sustainability, focused on the environmental impact of recovering nutrients from agri-food resources. Tom’s career has transitioned from the British Army to being a Humanitarian professional with Concern Worldwide to completing his PhD. Eoin White is a sustainability consultant specialising in energy analysis and life cycle assessment. He also works as a part time researcher at UCD investigating environmental decision analysis. Prior experience includes working for Shell Global Solutions. Nick Holden is a professor in UCD, and is a global expert in agricultural and environmental research, specialising in the environmental impact of agri-food sector and soil.

Boltz Secret Seeds are seedbombs enhanced with biochar. They are a platform to encourage people to garden at home, locally produce fruit & flowers and make a great occasion gift. The biochar enhancement promotes the growth of the seeds thus making them more efficient and environmentally friendly. The founder Elaine Doyle, has a dream to develop products that are environmentally responsible and the first product – secret seeds – will change the world one flower at a time.

About the team:Elaine is academically, professionally and personally passionate about sustainability, having worked in various organisations such as Engineers without Border, Food Cloud, and Wind Prospect. She has a background in engineering, specialising in materials and environmental education, development and social entrepreneurship. She is the founder of Bolts, an environmental product development company and the first product she has developed is called Secret Seeds.

Agri Grow Lights is a state-of-the-art solution that, by controlling the light spectrum from LED lights, food producers can increase the nutritious content of crops. The founders – Brian Reilly – has a dream to provide solutions to address global challenges on food production; growing more nutritious crops will assist in productivity, encourage people to grow their own and reduce excessive food miles and carbon emissions. The added bonus is that the LEDs are super energy efficient.
About the team: Brian Reilly is a Horticultural Scientist with qualifications from UCD, and the idea being presented is based on his final year dissertation. Brian has keen interest in R&D to develop the agricultural industry worldwide to ensure security of food supply and nutritional value of food, and has established the company Agri Grow Lights to achieve this goal. Brian has completed a graduate programme with IPM Potato Group, a subsidiary of Donegal Investment Group.

About “The Green Way”:
The Green Way was founded in 2010 when a number of key regional and national stakeholders and thought leaders identified an opportunity for Dublin City Region to promote job creation and green economic growth through the stimulation of the cleantech sector to take advantage of this emerging market. It is a collaborative cluster, located in Dublin, connecting companies, government and researchers to work together in the development, promotion and deployment of clean technology solutions. The founding partners of The Green Way include Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), Fingal County Council (FCC), Dublin City Council (DCC), Ballymun Regeneration Ltd (BRL), Dublin City University (DCU), Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and North Dublin Chamber (NDCC).

About Energy Cork:
Energy Cork is an industry-driven cluster pursuing coordinated actions to strengthen enterprise and employment within the energy sector in Cork. The initiative is supported by Cork City Council and Cork County Council through their respective Economic Development Funds. Energy Cork was initially conceived by Cork Chamber of Commerce with a view to building on the unique opportunities for the region to secure competitive advantage and sustainable economic growth in the energy sector.

About the ClimateLaunchpad competition 2015:
ClimateLaunchpad is part of the Climate KIC (Knowledge Innovation Community) initiative. 
To date The Green Way with Energy Cork have secured up to €580k to support Irish entrepreneurs, as an Outreach community under Climate KIC. We deliver this programme in partnership with the West Midlands, UK. This money is allocated to programmes such as ClimateLaunchpad, Climate KIC Accelerator, education and various knowledge share programmes.