A fertiliser product by 18-year-old Christopher Kelly has won Limerick’s Best Young Entrepreneur title.

Kelly of Talamh, a provider of tech solutions to the agriculture sector, also won ‘Best Start-Up Business’ category of the competition, which was organised recently by the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Limerick.

His company’s Blue-Box product aims to achieve significant savings for Irish farmers on their fertiliser bills by identifying what parts of the farm most need fertilising.

Kieran Normoyle from Patrickswell of Deviate Aspire, which is currently developing a simple to use technology that mitigates the effects of hypothermia, won the ‘Best New Business – Trading up to 24 months’ category.

Mark Sheahan from Grange of Recycle Right was named winner of the ‘Best Established Business – Trading more than 24 months’ category. The domestic Waste Collection and Recycling service currently has in excess of 5,000 customers, nine staff and is one of the fastest growing collection companies in Ireland.

The three local category winners, who will share a total investment fund of €50,000 being offered through LEO Limerick, now proceed to a regional competition with the winners from the region progressing to the national stage of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition, the LEO said.

Supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland, the competition is designed to seek out and support entrepreneurial talent across the country and features an Investment Fund of €100,000 to be shared among the national winners.

Cllr. Liam Galvin, Mayor of the City and County of Limerick, said that this competition fills him with confidence and strengthens my faith in the ability of Limerick’s young business men and women to become future business leaders.

“Their commitment and dedication to the development of new and existing business, bodes well for the Limerick economy.

“LEO Limerick has worked closely with many small and medium enterprises in helping them to expand their operations,” he said.

The local stage of the competition attracted applications from young people, aged 30 and under, from across Limerick. After a full review of applications, 15 finalists were shortlisted and took part in Business Boot Camps.

  • Christopher Kelly (Talamh).
  • Ciaran Prenderville and Aoife Howard (The Good Food Goddess).
  • Alan Brereton (Alda Concepts Ltd.).
  • Ethan O’Brien (Jump A Grade) (Best Start-Up Business).
  • Darragh Bourke (Paw Pals).
  • David O’Shea (nTrai Ltd.).
  • Marie Curtin (Temple Dairy).
  • Eric McNulty (McNulty’s Low Cost Fuels).
  • Paddy Finn (Electricity Exchange).
  • Kieran Normoyle (Deviate Aspire) (Best New Business – Trading up to 24 months).
  • Mark Sheahan (Recycle Right).
  • Shane O’Neill (Sidetrack Media & SONARC).
  • Paul Ryan (HighNelly Bikes Ltd.).
  • Mark Carey (Steamboat Music) (Best Established Business – Trading more than 24 months).