“FARMONY” WINS TOP COUNTY ENTERPRISE AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT MADE DURING LOCAL ENTERPRISE WEEK

“FARMONY” WINS TOP COUNTY ENTERPRISE AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT MADE DURING LOCAL ENTERPRISE WEEK

An agri-tech business from Dublin 11 is this year’s winner of the Fingal Enterprise Award for 2022, Local Enterprise Office Fingal has announced.

Life Ahead Ltd. T/A Farmony took the top prize of €5,000 and will now represent Fingal Local Enterprise Office at the 22nd National Enterprise Awards at the Mansion House in Dublin on the 2nd June.

Farmony provides a vertical farming solution for Europe through innovative technology, enabling the food industry to meet consumer demand for fresh, great-tasting, and pesticide-free food locally and sustainably year-round. Farmony aims to become the technology partner of choice to independentlyrun Vertical Farms globally.

Farmony will now be competing against 30 other finalists from every local authority area for a share of the €35,000 winners’ prize fund as national judging gets underway in May. Categories this year include ‘Best Export Business,’ ‘Best Start- Up’ and ‘Innovation,’ in addition to eight regional awards. There are also two new National Enterprise Awards this year with a “One to Watch” award and a “Sustainability / Green” award.

This year’s winner of the Highly Commended award at the Fingal Enterprise Awards, was Swords-based Khiron Ltd T/A Dimension88, a Digital Twinning / Metaverse / Digital Innovation Company that allows property industry professionals to create digital replicas of objects and entities.

Companies from Fingal have enjoyed success in the National Enterprise Awards in the past. In 2021, Kianda Technologies from Blanchardstown clinched the Export award, while other previous National Winners from Fingal included Keoghs Crisps in Oldtown, flight simulation company “Simtech Aviation”, as well as software companies “Vromo” and “IFS Ltd.” from Dublin 15.

The Fingal Enterprise Awards took place as part of a very successful Local Enterprise Week programme of events. There were over 220 physical and virtual events taking place across the country, run by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices from March 7th to 11th. Fingal events saw well over 1,000 participants at a range of in-person and online events.

Speaking during Local Enterprise Week, Head of Enterprise, Oisín Geoghegan from LEO Fingal said: ““For over two decades, the National Enterprise Awards have celebrated small-business success stories from every corner of Ireland, recognising their achievements in the national and international spotlight. At the 2022 National Enterprise Awards, we are delighted to be represented by Farmony. We wish them continued success with their future endeavours.””

4 other local businesses were also shortlisted this year, and they were: Love The Mug (Balbriggan), Nufields Ltd. (Charlestown), Rubberduck EHJC Ltd. (Baldoyle) and Race Displays Ltd T/A Ecofriendly Cups (Ballycoolin).

Among the special guests at the ceremony were Minister Joe O’Brien TD, Deputy Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Daniel Whooley, Ms. AnnMarie Farrelly (Chief Executive of Fingal County Council), Councillors Karen Power and Tony Murphy, previous FEA 2020 winners Derya & Osvaldo Sousa (founders of Kianda Technologies). Members of the judging panel included Michael Dawson (CEO, One4all Group), Deirdre O’Neill (Enterprise Ireland) and Gerry McInerney (McInerney & Saunders).

The Chief Executive of Fingal County Council AnnMarie Farrelly added:

“There were many memorable highlights during Local Enterprise Week and it was clear from the atmosphere at all of the events that participants were getting a great deal of benefit from their attendance. I was particularly pleased to be at the opening event which featured a Start-Up Bootcamp on Monday in the Riasc Centre, Swords, the Enterprise Awards final on Thursday and the Fingal Enterprising Women’s networking lunch on Friday, featuring Lorraine Keane”.

Other high-profile events that took place during the week included a National Showcase “Show Me the Money” event hosted by Shane Coleman, an Ethnic Entrepreneurs webinar hosted by Empower Fingal and the Fingal Ethnic Network, and a business strategy seminar hosted by Balbriggan Chamber. Local Enterprise Week is organised every year by the Local Enterprise Offices and supported by Enterprise Ireland, local authorities and the Government of Ireland.

For all information and media requests around the County Enterprise Awards or Local Enterprise Week, please contact: Oisín Geoghegan, Head of Enterprise in Fingal, on Tel: 01 8900 800 or 087 988 4081. E-mail: oisin@leo.fingal.ie

The six finalists in the 2022 Fingal Enterprise Awards competition were:

Khiron Ltd T/A DIMENSION88 (Swords) - Dimension 88 is a Digital Twinning / Metaverse / Digital Innovation Company that allows property industry professionals to create digital replicas of objects and entities. No show house? No problem! Dimension 88 currently has applications in development to provide their clients with more usability and control and plans to become the market leader in Ireland and internationally.

Life Ahead Ltd T/A FARMONY (Dublin 11) - Farmony provides a vertical farming solution for Europe through innovative technology, enabling the food industry to meet consumer demand for fresh, great-tasting, and pesticide-free food locally and sustainably year-round. Farmony aims to become the technology partner of choice to independently-run Vertical Farms globally.

LOVE THE MUG LTD (Balbriggan) - Love The Mug is Ireland’s only fine bone china statement mug manufacturer, supplying over 130 retail outlets, including Brown Thomas, Arnotts, and Easons. The business aims to expand into the UK market and build on its export market to the USA and Australia.

NUFIELDS LTD (Dublin 11) - Nufields simplifies urban gardening with simple yet innovative grow kits aimed at bringing the farm into people’s homes. Nufields aims to become the leading global supplier of urban, vertical, and indoor farming products in Europe and the USA.

Race Displays Ltd T/A ECOFRIENDLY CUPS (Dublin 15) - EcoFriendly Cups provides a viable alternative to single-use plastics for stadiums, festivals and sporting events. EcoFriendly Cups intends to increase its customer base within the event industry, helping them work towards a cleaner, greener, and more pleasant environment for patrons.

RUBBERDUCK EHJC Ltd (Baldoyle) - Rubberduck is a video production company creating accessibility to innovative, top-quality production for companies who want to grow their business. Rubberduck has worked with some of Ireland’s biggest brands, including Ryanair, Aer Lingus, BordBia, The National Dairy Council, Kingspan, AIB, Texaco, and Elverys, and intends to grow its client base in 2022

National Enterprise Awards 2022

Award Categories and Prize Fund

The 2022 National Enterprise Awards take place on Thursday, 2nd June in the Mansion House in Dublin and are organised by the Local Enterprise Offices

• Overall Winner, National Enterprise Awards 2022 (Cash Prize for business: €10,000)

• Best Export Award (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)

• Best Innovation Award (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)

• Best Start-Up Award (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)

• Innovation / Green Award (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)

• One to Watch Award (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)

• Eight Runner-Up Winners (Cash Prize for business: €2,000 each)

Runner Up Regions:

o Dublin City, Fingal, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin

o Kildare, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath

o Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny

o Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan

o Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Longford

o Galway, Mayo and Roscommon

o Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary

o Cork City, South Cork, Cork North & West and Waterford