Cork’s young entrepreneurs compete for €200k prize fund
CORK’S best young entrepreneurs are gearing up this week for
Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) national finals, taking place this Sunday, September 15 in Google HQ in Dublin.
One of those finalists is Darragh Lucey from Ovens.
Having studied machine learning algorithms while taking his Electrical and Electronical Engineering degree in UCC, Darragh developed ‘Yooni’ along with his co-founder, Nathan. Yooni is a student engagement platform that helps Higher Education Institutes to increase annual student fee revenue by attracting and retaining students.
Yooni launched Carpool College Courses in 2019, promoting 3rd level courses through interactive content, and is working on its course selector and data collections tools for higher education institutes. Yooni have also participated in the UCC IGNITE Graduate Development Programme of which Cork County Council is a funder.
Their next product is a course selector, which engages Yooni’s AI algorithm to help students determine what course they are best suited to. www.yooni.ie
Darragh spoke positively about the experience: “IBYE has opened up so many doors for us at Yooni and we’ve met some really inspirational people along the way. Getting the opportunity to compete among the top entrepreneurs in the country is an opportunity we’re relishing.”
Another Cork finalist, with a PHD in Early Childhood learning, is Wendy Oke, from Douglas, who created TeachKloud, a cloud-based management and compliance platform that helps teachers spend less time on paperwork and more time on the development of the child (www.teachkloud.com)
This weekend, the 24 IBYE finalists for 2019 will be competing for a €100,000 prize fund across three categories.