MicroJect, a University College Dublin (UCD) medtech spin-out supported through NovaUCD, has been announced as the winner of the first runner-up award at the final of the 2026 IDEATE Ireland startup competition.
The competition is focused on uncovering and empowering Ireland’s next generation of student entrepreneurs and graduates, helping to turn their brilliant ideas into thriving international businesses.
Enables safe and consistent intradermal delivery
MicroJect is developing a novel polymer microneedle-based delivery platform that enables safe and consistent intradermal delivery, without the need for conventional metal needles. The company’s multi-outlet, multi-depth platform design ensures accurate and precise delivery into the dermis, while reducing patient discomfort, training requirements, and reliance on sharp metal waste.
Designed for scalability and cost-effectiveness through injection moulding, the MicroJect platform supports a wide range of therapies such as allergy diagnosis, vaccines, and high-viscosity formulations, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional injection devices.
Pictured are Dr Angela Duffy; resolve partners, Dr Lorcan O'Toole, CEO, MicroJect and Dr Sahil Malhotra, CSO, MicroJect.
MicroJect was founded in 2026 following years of research in precision manufacturing and microneedle design by Dr Jufan Zhang and Professor Fengzhou Fang of UCD’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, alongside former senior research engineer Dr Lorcan O’Toole and was supported through the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund.
Dr Lorcan O’Toole, CEO, MicroJect, said: “I am absolutely delighted that MicroJect has been named the runner-up award winner of the 2026 Ideate Ireland start-up competition. The Ideate Ireland programme has helped us take a major step forward in how we communicate the MicroJect opportunity and tell our story as prepare for investment.
"The programme challenged us to keep listening, keep testing our assumptions, and keep sharpening how we explain the problem we are solving, the value we can create, and the company we are building. We are leaving IDEATE as a much stronger company, with a clearer investment case, a sharper focus, and greater confidence in the next stage of MicroJect’s journey.”
MicroJect which has secured €100,000 from Enterprise Ireland in PSSF funding is now looking to raise €900,000 in 2026, with a €5m round planned for 2028. The initial fund raise will be used to finalise product design and progress through the necessary regulatory pathways towards manufacturing readiness, which is expected to take about 18 months.
Trinity’s NOVAPmedical, which is developing a device which aims to reduce the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia by targeting one of its root causes, biofilm within the endotracheal tube, was named the overall winner of this year’s competition.
Two additional UCD projects AthlenX Wearables and PulseAnchor were among the 10 projects which completed this year’s competition.
Innovative wearable sensor prototype
AthlenX is developing an innovative wearable sensor prototype designed to accurately monitor energy expenditure in elite athletes during exercise.
Measuring and understanding energy expenditure in athletes is critical for optimising an athlete’s sporting performance. By combining sports science and engineering expertise, the team are fusing multi-modal data, including movement, GPS, and advanced temperature sensing technology, with proprietary machine learning algorithms, to deliver a highly precise, real-time solution to a major unaddressed need in the global sports technology market.
The members of the AthlenX team, an Enterprise Ireland Proof-of-Concept Fund project, are Professor Kate Pumpa, UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science and Associate Professor Stephen Redmond, UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Spinal Surgery procedures have a significant postoperative complication, screw loosening, with reported rates up to 23.8% in patients over 60 years of age who have undergone a spinal fusion. PulseAnchor is developing a technology that addresses this critical unmet need by improving the fixation stability of pedicle screws in spinal fusion procedures.
The members of the PulseAnchor team, an Enterprise Ireland Proof-of-Concept Fund project in the UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, are Dr Irina Khaydukova, Dr Nikita Belikov and Dr Eoin O'Cearbhaill.