NovaUCD

ucd.ie/innovation

As part of the UCD Research and Innovation unit NovaUCD is the hub of innovation-related activities at the University. NovaUCD nurtures and supports high-tech and knowledge-intensive spin-in and spin-out companies through purpose-built and state-of-the-art facilities and through a comprehensive support programme. NexusUCD, NovaUCD’s Industry Partnership Centre, provides high-quality modern office space, with short, medium or long term occupancy arrangements, and associated services, to established innovation-led companies who are collaborating, or wish to collaborate, with UCD.

NovaUCD also delivers a series of programmes, such as 1-day Sprint Programmes, 5-week Commercialisation Bootcamps and the 3-month VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme, for researchers who wish to launch sustainable and profitable startups emerging from UCD intellectual property. NovaUCD also supports student entrepreneurs through the annual UCD Start-Up Stars Programme.

Nova UCD Student Enterprise Competition

The NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition, now in its 9th year, takes place in NovaUCD, the start-up hub at University College Dublin (UCD). It is a framework to support undergraduate and postgraduate students who want to work together to develop and grow start-up companies.

The aim of the competition is to assist the participating students in refining their start-up ideas through a series of structured workshops, including taught content from industry experts, interactive workshops, regular mentoring and pitching sessions.

The 4-week mentoring programme, which uses the Lean Startup and Business Model Canvas approach, includes a series of structured workshops and interactive workshops, on topics such as, customer development; value proposition; working in teams; design thinking; prototyping, environment mapping; financial planning and effective fundraising and pitching.

At a final workshop, in late June each participating venture pitches to a judging panel. Based on evaluation of the presentations an overall winning team is selected and will be awarded a €5,000 cash prize; the second placed team will be awarded a €3,000 cash prize and the third placed team a €2,000 cash prize. Over 50 earlystage ventures and nearly 150 students have completed the NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition to date.

Former competition participants include Charlie Gleeson, who took part in the 2019 competition with an e-scooter business idea, which he then developed into Zipp Mobility. The company which he grew to launch e-scooter and e-bike services in locations across Ireland, the UK and Poland was recently acquired by Zeus Scooters.

www.ucd.ie/innovation/researchers-and-students/ novaucd-student-enterprise-competition/