12 investor ready start-ups pitch for investment at Enterprise Ireland's Big Ideas 2022

Big Ideas include an injectable gel treatment for knee osteoarthritis, AI-powered video summarisation, a medical device to treat dry eyes, and a solution to lower carbon emissions

Twelve investor-ready start-ups will pitch their new technology solutions to investors at Enterprise Ireland’s Big Ideas 2022 today. The annual event, which showcases deep tech start-up innovation emerging from higher education institutes, provides founders with direct access to investors and an opportunity to unveil their Big Idea. Now in its 14th year, Big Ideas 2022 will take place as a hybrid event with a live audience in Croke Park Dublin and a wider international audience watching online.

This year, innovations address a wide range of issues, including an injectable gel treatment to give superior relief and protection from knee osteoarthritis, AI-powered video summarisation, a wearable medical device to treat dry and sore eyes, and a way to categorise transaction data to determine carbon hotspots and provide recommendations to lower carbon emissions.

The selected pitch teams will each have just three minutes to promote their innovations and business propositions to an invited in person and online audience made up of the Irish research and investment communities and the wider start-up ecosystem.

The teams pitching at Big Ideas today are representative of deep tech start-ups – companies that must successfully conquer high levels of technical, engineering and science risk in parallel to the other risks that companies face when starting out, such as market and finance risk. However, their combination of talent, and a differentiated, proprietary product means these types of start-ups can be highly disruptive to market incumbents and consequently impactful at a societal and economic level.

Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation at the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment, Dara Calleary, TD, said:

“Ireland has one of the most vibrant and collaborative commercialisation ecosystems in the world – due in no small part to the people that make the system what it is – the entrepreneurs and the founders and the technology and innovations they pursue. The origins of these technology-based start-ups are deep rooted in ground-breaking research emanating from State-funded Irish institutions and this new wave of deep tech entrepreneurs is helping to position Ireland as a leading player on the global innovation scene.

“As these founders face a more challenging start-up funding environment, it’s important to sustain and support their growth, and instruments such as the Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund (DTIF) play a critical role in addressing potential funding gaps for deep tech start-ups. I wish all 12 teams the best of luck today and into the future.”

Enterprise Ireland CEO Leo Clancy said:

“Given the severe global headwinds that Irish businesses are facing, it has never been more important to champion the courage and ambition of Irish founders, as their spirit and drive are the cornerstones of our local and national economies. Enterprise Ireland is committed to further accelerating entrepreneurship in Ireland and today’s event is an excellent example of this, with the interaction between investors, higher education institutes and our own support teams providing these 12 ambitious founders with an opportunity to take their businesses to the next level. The commercialisation of companies, born as a result of a research idea is an imperative for Enterprise Ireland and the State as their success will change our collective future for the better.

“We have a really strong mix of companies pitching today and it is great to see that 50% of them have women founders. I wish each of them luck today.”

The Big Ideas pitch teams will also be vying for one of two accolades today. A judging panel will decide which of the 12 start-ups will be presented with this year’s ‘One to Watch Award’ for the outstanding pitch of the day. The live and online audience will also have their say – their vote will decide which pitch team will be presented with the ‘Viewer’s Choice Award’.