From snack-sized video games to Google Maps for underground utilities, this year’s New Frontiers programme saw participation from multiple innovative start-ups.
Four start-ups have received awards for their work at the culmination of this year’s Phase 2 New Frontiers programme.
12 early-stage Dublin start-ups focused on sectors including AI, medtech, automation, gaming and the circular economy took part in the six-month programme, which was delivered by Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) Media Cube in partnership with NovaUCD.
The participating founders each received financial support of a €15,000 scholarship as they focused on moving their business from concept to market.
At a showcase event marking the end of the programme at the Carnegie Hub @ IADT, the winning start-ups were selected after pitching to a panel of judges.
The winning start-ups were Biscuit Factory Games, Data Buckets, Datamnis and Earth Visio.
Biscuit Factory Games, which makes small, “snackable” indie video game experiences for PCs and consoles, received the IADT-sponsored Best Pitch Award. This start-up was founded by Daniel Bergin-Holly, who has worked in the video game industry for more than 10 years at companies such as Sega and Mediatonic Games.
Data Buckets, a big data platform-AI agent for mobile-first companies, received the One to Watch Award, sponsored by NovaUCD. Data Buckets was founded by Phuong Vu, who previously founded application monitoring company BeeInstant – which was acquired by IBM company Instana in 2019.
The Most Likely to Scale Award, sponsored by Flynn O’Driscoll, went to Datamnis, a company that combines data science and process engineering solutions for AI-driven sustainable manufacturing. Founder Ming Zhao previously worked as a researcher at Teagasc and University College Dublin after earning a PhD in chemistry.
Last but certainly not least, the Most Likely to Succeed Award, sponsored by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Local Enterprise Office, was given to Earth Visio, a start-up that is building “Google Maps for underground utilities”. Earth Visio was founded by Jo Cheng, who previously held a number of management positions at Google, including a stint as head of data science at the company’s fibre broadband arm Google Fiber.
The eight other start-ups that completed this year’s Phase 2 New Frontiers Programme were Appfend, Bean Around, Echofold, Lifepath, Neuramodal, Nixerly, RODiHR and Tendr.
Applications are open until 9 November for the next hybrid Phase 1 programme. The next full-time Phase 2 programme starts in April 2026.
Reflecting on the win, Bergin-Holly said: “The New Frontiers programme has given me the head space to stop and think about the structure of the business, to think about the future and it’s also great to be in contact with other founders during the emotional rollercoaster that running a business can be.”
This was the fourth year of this five-year long New Frontiers Programme, which is supported by €1.6m in Enterprise Ireland funding. Last year, start-ups Evogen, PolliKnow, SoloBook and UnitMode were announced as winners of the 2024 Phase 2 programme.
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