Entries open for Student Entrepreneur Awards (Ireland)

There’s an incredible first place cash prize to be won plus the opportunity to avail of specialist advice and assistance to potentially help turn your enterprise idea into a business reality. So get a team together for the most exciting challenge of your life so far.

Sponsored by Cruickshank, Grant Thornton, Local Enterprise Office and Enterprise Ireland, the Student Entrepreneur Awards offers third level students from all academic disciplines and courses of study the opportunity to realise their entrepreneurial ambitions.

Benefits

• Opportunity to become an entrepreneur
  • Students can create the businesses they want to work in with unique support from the Student Entrepreneur Awards.
• Helps students stand out
  • Taking part in this prestigious award demonstrates the commitment to innovation employers and investors seek.
• Expert advice and mentoring
  • Support, advice and mentoring.

Funding Information

• Cash to fund your start-up business
  • €35,000 in cash prizes with the overall winner receiving €10,000.
  • Cruickshank High Achieving Merit Award
    • €5,000 Cash
  • Grant Thornton High Achieving Merit Award
    • €5,000 Cash
  • Local Enterprise Office High Achieving Merit Award
    • €5,000 Cash
  • Enterprise Ireland Merit Awards Fund (€10,000)
    • 6 runner-up awards of €1,500
    • 1 academic award of €1,000

Eligibility Criteria

• The Student Entrepreneur Awards are open to full-time registered third level undergraduate and postgraduate students on the island of Ireland. Entries can be from individuals or teams. Joint entries from different colleges are eligible but if the entry gets to the final stage one college must take the lead. You can help the students by acting as a Supervisor. The Supervisor is the academic who helps the student/s to develop the project. It is not a requirement for projects to have a Supervisor to enter the competition.
• Entries must meet the following criteria:
  • The idea must have commercial viability and export potential.
  • Students must own, control and manage their business Intellectual Property where applicable.
  • Not for profit and social entrepreneurship applicants must operate in a commercial domain.
  • Students must have an ambition to start their business in Ireland and base their headquarters here.
  • The maximum number is five students per team.

For more information, visit Enterprise Ireland.