Hunt for young entrepreneurs
YOUNG entrepreneurs in Wexford are being encouraged to take part in the search to find Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur.
The initiative is co-ordinated by all 31 Local Enterprise Offices and begins with a nationwide competition across three categories at county level: Best Idea, Best Start-Up Business and Best Established Business.
A total of around 450 applicants, across every Local Authority area, will be invited to regional ‘Entrepreneur Bootcamps’ in November, to help them develop their business and new venture ideas.
Each Local Enterprise Office (LEO) is running a competition in each county aimed at finding winners in each of the three categories as well as an overall county winner. Each LEO will have a total fund of up to €50,000 to invest in six businesses (three category winners and three runners-up) according to criteria including businesses’ investment needs. The three categories are: Best Business Idea (pre-trading); Best Start-Up Business (up to 36 months), with up to €20,000 investment fund through every LEO (€15,000 for category winner and €5,000 for runner-up, through every LEO) and Best Established Business.
The county winners will then proceed to eight regional finals from which 24 contenders (three from each region – one in each category) will be selected to compete for the national title of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur. A further €100,000 investment fund will be available to invest in the winners of the three categories at the national final, one of which will also be named with the prestigious title of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur.
The competition was launched last week by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’ Connor who said: ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition offers a very significant stepping stone into the world of running your own business for young people aged 35 or under. It’s not just the scale of the investment fund on offer that makes IBYE such an important competition but the intensive bootcamps as well.’
To enter, young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35 inclusive are being asked to visit the IBYE website at www.ibye.ie, to submit their entry online. The closing date for entries is Friday, October 14 and there is no entry fee. Further information and details are also available from the 31 Local Enterprise Offices nationwide.