Manna and Xocean among finalists for Business and Finance Awards

A new ‘Innovation of the Year’ category has been added to highlight the country’s ‘pioneering ideas and advancements’.

The shortlists have just been announced for the Business and Finance Awards, now in its 50th year. The aim of the awards, organised in association with KPMG, is to honour companies that are “shaping the future of Irish business”.

A record number of entries were received this year, with more than 80 companies shortlisted. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in the Convention Centre in Dublin on 5 December.

The finalists this year include Manna Drone Delivery, one of Ireland’s most exciting tech start-ups and Integrity360, an Irish cybersecurity company, which are both competing for the ‘Elevation Company of the Year’ award. TransferMate, a B2B payments tech unicorn and data destruction and IT asset disposal firm Wisetek are both up for ‘Company of the Year’.

There is a new ‘Innovation of the Year’ category this year to highlight the country’s “pioneering ideas and advancements”.

Positive Carbon, a food waste tech company, which was a finalist at this year’s Enterprise Ireland HPSU Founder of the Year Award and Xocean, a company using robots to collect ocean data are competing in this new innovation category.

Sir Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta and former UK deputy prime minister will be awarded the Sutherland Leadership Award, while the late Sir Tony O’Reilly, one of Ireland’s most well-known business people will be awarded the TK Whitaker Award for outstanding contribution to public life and Willie Mullins, the racehorse trainer and former jockey, will be awarded the Outstanding Contribution To Ireland Award.

“The 2024 programme continues a long tradition of honouring really impressive individuals and companies that truly embody excellence, innovation and resilience within their industries and the broader Irish business community,” said Seamus Hand, managing partner at KPMG.

Ian Hyland, the CEO of Business & Finance described the shortlist as “exceptional”.

“This year’s shortlist represents the very best of Irish companies and their leaders.”

To see the full list of finalists, visit the Business and Finance Awards website.

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