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The 11 startups selected to participate in University College Dublin’s (UCD) new AI Ecosystem Accelerator programme have been announced. The focus of this new accelerator programme is to support entrepreneurs who are developing disruptive AI (artificial intelligence) solutions for a global market.

The participating startups are; ALPACA, Customs Window, Durotimi AI, Frontier AI, GoMappED, KnowCarbon, La Casa Care, SonnyLabs.ai, Tashka Technology Solutions, VoxMed.AI and wrksense. (See profiles below).

The six-month AI Ecosystem Accelerator programme will be delivered by NovaUCD, the hub of innovation and startup activities at UCD, in partnership with CeADAR, Ireland’s National Centre for Applied AI.

L-R: Liana-Anca Tomescu, SonnyLabs.ai; Dara Calleary TD, trade minister; Doyin Bademosi, Durotimi AI and Joe Fernandez, ALPACA.

The programme is funded through the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) framework, a Europe-wide initiative with funding of €700m from both the European Commission and the governments of member states.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, through Enterprise Ireland, is leading on the EDIH programme for Ireland and CeADAR has been designated as the European Digital Innovation Hub for AI in Ireland.

'AI-Here For Good’

Dara Calleary TD, trade minister, said: “Meeting with the entrepreneurs taking part in this exciting programme I am pleased to see that in keeping with ‘AI- Here For Good’, the government’s national AI strategy, the participating startups are focused on using AI to benefit citizens and the way we live and work.”

Targeted supports for the 11 participating startups over the next six months include a dedicated commercial mentor and workshops on value proposition, route to market, sales strategies, and securing investment.

Participants will have access to co-working space at NovaUCD and access to the NovaUCD community of founders, investors, business partners and student interns. They will also have access to CeADAR’s EDIH for AI services which include AI technologies, and research expertise with technical mentorship.

L-R: Tom Flanagan, UCD director of enterprise and commercialisation; Dara Calleary TD, trade minister; Professor Kate Robson Brown, UCD vice-president for research, innovation and impact; and Dr Ricardo Simon Carbajo, director of innovation and development, CeADAR.

Professor Kate Robson Brown, UCD vice-president for research, innovation and impact said: “The government’s ambition is that Ireland becomes a leading country in using AI for the benefit of people. Through this new AI Ecosystem Accelerator programme starting today UCD is supporting a dynamic cohort of Irish startups and entrepreneurs who are focused on using AI technologies to deliver a range of disruptive products and services, for the benefit of society, not only here in Ireland, but on a global stage.

Global ambitions

“There was a great demand from startups across Ireland to take part in the programme which will be delivered by NovaUCD and CeADAR, and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the 11 selected startups. I am looking forward to attending the showcase event at the end of the programme to learn more about how the participants have accelerated their startups to the next level and to find out more about their global ambitions.”

Emma Callinan, director of commercialisation, Enterprise Ireland, said: “The AI Ecosystem Accelerator programme will provide entrepreneurs across sectors including Healthcare, Cybersecurity, Education, and Sustainability with the opportunity to advance their AI startups through a range of targeted technical and commercial supports.

"Enterprise Ireland is delighted to welcome the 11 start-ups into the ecosystem of successful AI entrepreneurs, and we look forward to supporting them on their transformative journeys as they develop disruptive AI solutions with a global impact.”

Since opening in 2003 NovaUCD has developed a strong track record and has supported 550+ startups and early-stage ventures through the services it provides, and through business support programmes run and managed by NovaUCD. In addition, the NovaUCD entrepreneurial community has now raised €1.3+ bn in equity funding.

CeADAR’s mission is to help industry in Ireland adopt AI as the National Centre and the European Digital Innovation Hub in AI for Ireland. The centre has been awarded a multi-million-euro project as part of the EDIH programme to support start-ups, enterprises (with less than 3,000 employees) and public sector organisation from all over Ireland who are at the early stage of their AI journey or just curious to find out how using data can benefit their business.

Among the mentors who will be working with participants during the programme are; serial entrepreneur, Niamh Sterling; Aidan Finn, Binarii Labs; Mitchell O’Gorman, xWave Technologies; Lucinda Kelly; Tara Looney, both start-up advisors; and Ronan Murphy, Smarttech247 and GetVisibility.

The six-month AI Ecosystem Accelerator programme will end with a showcase event to be held in October.

11 startups chosen for UCD’s AI Accelerator Programme

Silicate, a terrestrial enhanced weathering company headquartered at NovaUCD in Dublin, today announced that it has been named as one of 20 finalists in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition. Silicate is the only company from Ireland among the 20 finalists.

The competition, which is funded by the Musk Foundation, helped catalyse the growth of an entire new industry, galvanising more than 1,300 teams to develop new ideas for carbon dioxide removal (CDR).

The 20 finalists, who are now competing for a $50m grand prize, represent leading CDR solutions with the potential to make meaningful contributions to a diverse, global, sustainable, gigatonne-scale CDR effort.

Durably sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide as dissolved bicarbonate

Silicate’s carbon dioxide removal approach leverages existing agricultural value chains to durably sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide as dissolved bicarbonate by enhancing a natural and permanent carbon removal pathway, weathering. Silicate is the first terrestrial enhanced weathering company globally to focus on carbonate-bearing materials, such as returned concrete and limestone.

Maurice Bryson, founder, Silicate. Photo: Declan Colfer Photography.

Research by the company in Ireland and the US Midwest in collaboration with academics from University College Dublin and Northwestern University, with the support of Breakthrough Energy Fellows, has helped the company to progress on milestones critical to enabling enhanced weathering to become a carbon removal pathway with climate-relevant potential.

“Being selected as a finalist in this prestigious competition is an exciting opportunity for our team to demonstrate the potential of terrestrial enhanced weathering with carbonate-bearing materials to durably sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide,” said Silicate founder and director, Maurice Bryson.

“XPRIZE’s recognition and support of our work is a boon to our mission to leverage agricultural value chains to durably remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while increasing soil productivity through pH amendment.”

The finalists were selected based upon their performance in three key areas: operations, sustainability, and cost. The finalists demonstrated their ability to execute a substantial demonstration that approaches the competition's goal of removing 1,000 net tonnes of CO₂ in the final year of the competition, and a viable pathway to reaching megatonne scale in the coming years and eventually gigatonne scale with an understanding of their environmental and social impacts.

"For the world to effectively address greenhouse gas emissions, carbon removal is an essential element of the path to net zero. There's no way to reverse humanity's impact on the climate without extracting carbon from our atmosphere and oceans," said Anousheh Ansari, chief executive officer, XPRIZE.

Building a set of robust and effective solutions

"We need a range of bold, innovative CDR solutions to manage the vast quantities of CO₂ released into our environment and impacting our planet. The teams that have been competing for this prize are all part of building a set of robust and effective solutions and our 20 teams advancing to the final stage of XPRIZE Carbon Removal will have an opportunity to demonstrate their potential to have a significant impact on the climate."

Last year, humans emitted a record 35.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere(Liu et al., 2024). Limiting global warming to 1.5°C – we are currently at ~1.1°C (Lee and Romero, 2023) – will require not just urgent decarbonisation of the global economy, but also permanent removal of 20-660 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2100(Shukla et al., 2022).

The 20 finalist teams are in four removal pathway tracks, Air, Rocks, Oceans, Land, Oceans.

Further information on the other finalists visit: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/20-finalists-announced-in-xprize-carbon-removal-racing-to-reverse-climate-change-302138956.html

The final stage of the competition will take place over the next year, wherein finalist teams are challenged to demonstrate 1,000 net tonnes of CO₂removal and will be judged based on their fully considered cost, operational performance, and against sustainable scalability requirements.

NovaUCD startup Silicate unveiled as finalist in XPRIZE Carbon Removal Competition

Corlytics, the regulatory intelligence and policy compliance technology firm, has announced the acquisition of a digital regtech platform from Deloitte UK.

The announcement closely follows Verdane’s majority stake investment last month to cement Corlytics’ global category leadership.

Corlytics, headquartered at NexusUCD in Dublin, works in developing intelligent regulations and taxonomies with regulators such as the FCA; and acquired the key policy management technologies of ING’s SparQ and Clausematch last year. It is the regtech partner of choice for the world’s largest financial services firms.

Plugged directly into international regulators, Corlytics is the only solution that enables clients to align with, and stay ahead of, regulatory demands, which increasingly require growing levels of proof of compliance.

L-R: John Byrne, CEO and founder, Corlytics; and Kent Mackenzie, COO, Corlytics and former Deloitte UK Partner and head of regtech.

Unique capabilities

The Deloitte UK regtech platform and its unique capabilities add considerable breadth and domain expertise to further Corlytics’ capabilities from interpreting regulatory change, to mapping policies and now to controls – empowering users to find, interpret, understand and accurately implement regulatory change.

It will extend Corlytics’ coverage in Europe and the US, and provide the capability to further augment the Corlytics platform for global Tier 1 organisations in financial services, but also into sectors such as big tech and pharma.

John Byrne, CEO and founder, Corlytics said: “This is a transformational acquisition for clients. The regtech market is growing and evolving fast, and Corlytics is positioned at the forefront. We continue to seek opportunities for sustainable expansion and consolidation, and are thrilled to incorporate this Deloitte UK platform and associated team.

Deloitte UK has been using our intelligent data for five years now, and I’m thrilled to take this relationship to the next level. Our ambition goes beyond intelligent data solutioning, we aim to establish a new horizon and set a new standard for how compliance is managed.

“The Corlytics business and this Deloitte UK regtech platform are hugely complimentary, and as a combination can offer a truly unique, end-to-end platform in the market. This is a game changer for our clients and the industry. Together, we can completely address the critical challenges clients are desperate to solve, and elevate the value and intelligence placed on regulatory content and management.”

Last month John Byrne received the 2024 NovaUCD Founder of the Year Award.

A total of 17 people that work within the Deloitte UK regtech platform will be joining Corlytics as part of the acquisition. Kent Mackenzie, Deloitte UK Partner and head of regtech, will join Corlytics as COO.

Cindy Chan, managing partner for risk advisory at Deloitte UK, said: “Having built this platform from scratch over the last eight years, we are extremely proud of the growth the team has achieved and the service that has been delivered to our clients. Following the approach from Corlytics to buy the platform, we feel that this sale offers the best opportunity for the team to continue to grow the business and develop their careers.”

2023 saw Corlytics make two significant acquisitions, ING SparQ and Clausematch, creating an unparalleled platform that manages the entire regulatory risk value chain on a global scale, elevating its extensive offer for Tier 1 organisations including ING, BNY Mellon, ScotiaBank and SwissRe.

Growth of global regtech market

Further ambitious growth is planned over the next two years, with the global regtech market anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 23.6% between 2024-2032.

Nils Vold, partner at Verdane, said: "We backed Corlytics as the regtech category leader just three weeks ago, and we are thrilled to already be supporting John and his excellent team on their first acquisition since Verdane’s majority investment.

"As specialist technology growth investors, we partner with leading entrepreneurs, to support them on both their organic and acquisitive growth journeys. This acquisition is a fantastic step forward for Corlytics, its people and its customers."

Since 2020 Corlytics has grown 60% per annum, predominantly driven by its core regulatory compliance products. The number of customers has roughly doubled during this period.

Today, it forecasts double digit growth of about 35% CAGR through to 2028. New products, content classes and additional acquisitions are expected to contribute further to growth by 2028.

Corlytics lines up digital regtech platform from Deloitte UK

The recipients of NovaUCD’s annual innovation awards, which highlight successes made in areas of knowledge transfer, consultancy, entrepreneurship and the promotion of an innovation culture, by members of the UCD research, innovation and entrepreneurial community, have been announced.

A total of seven awards, including the main 2024 NovaUCD Innovation Award, were presented by Professor Orla Feely, President, University College Dublin (UCD) during an event held in the UCD University Club.

Prof Feely, UCD president and former Engineers Ireland president, said: “The NovaUCD Innovation Awards have become a key annual event highlighting the University’s commitment to innovation and recognise the achievements of our research, innovation and entrepreneurial communities and I congratulate all who have received this year’s awards.

Delivering economic and societal impact

"I would also like to wish the awardees future success as they continue to work towards delivering economic and societal impact in Ireland, and further afield, through their commercialisation, consultancy, entrepreneurial and innovation activities.”

Professor Therese Kinsella, CEO and founder of ATXA Therapeutics.

The 2024 NovaUCD Innovation Award, which recognises excellence in innovation or of successes achieved in the commercialisation of UCD research, or other intellectual activity, over a number of years, was awarded to Professor Therese Kinsella, CEO and founder of ATXA Therapeutics. ATXA Therapeutics is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company committed to the advancement of innovative, life-changing treatments for cardiopulmonary diseases.

The company was founded by Prof Kinsella, a biochemist and a leading expert in the field of prostanoid biology, in 2015 as a spin-out from the UCD School of Molecular and Biomedical Science based on over 20 years of research carried out by her and her team at the UCD Conway Institute.

The company’s focus is the development of its lead candidate drug NTP42 for the treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). PAH is a devastating disease of the lungs and heart with an urgent unmet need for new improved therapies.

While the condition itself is classed as a rare or orphan disease, affecting 15-50 patients per million of the population, it carries an enormous health burden with an annual spend in excess of $8 billion globally on prescribed medicines alone in 2023.

Improved treatment options

Through NTP42, which has orphan drug designations from both the EMA in Europe and the FDA in the US, ATXA aims to offer improved treatment options to prescribing physicians. The company has successfully completed initial First-in-Human Phase I clinical trials for NTP42 in healthy male volunteers. Earlier this year, the company successfully completed a bridging clinical trial testing of a novel oral capsule formulation of NTP42 in men and women.

On receiving the 2024 NovaUCD Innovation Award, Prof Kinsella, CEO and founder, ATXA Therapeutics, said: “It is indeed a great honour for me to accept this Award from UCD both personally and on behalf of everyone on the ATXA team who have been part of our success journey so far.

“The company is working towards commencing Phase II clinical trials in PAH patients to demonstrate NTP42’s clinical efficiency. Depending on securing approval from the EMA and FDA regulatory agencies, as well as the necessary inward investment, the Phase II trials are due to run from 2025 through to late 2026.”

ATXA Therapeutics, headquartered at the UCD Conway Institute, has raised over €17m in funding (equity and grant) to date, and Prof Kinsella and ATXA have a patent estate of 16 granted patents, in Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, and Australia, with numerous others filed globally protecting their drugs out to the mid-2040s.

Associate professor Nan Zhang, recipient of the 2024 NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award.

Among the other award recipients are, associate professor Nan Zhang, recipient of the 2024 NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award and Professor Fiona Timmins, UCD Dean of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, recipient of the 2024 NovaUCD Consultancy of the Year Award.

The recipient of the 2024 NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award is associate professor Nan Zhang, UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering.

He received this award in recognition of a patented microfluidic system and process for the formulation of nanomedicines, which was developed by him and his research team.

The invention consists of a high-throughput microfluidic system, featuring a cartridge with a uniquely designed mixing channel, coupled with a desktop machine for conducting nanoparticle synthesis. This system is designed to accelerate formulation screening and to enhance formulation optimisation, crucial for the development of gene therapy, cell therapy, and vaccines.

Prof Nan Zhang, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented loss of lives, and the development of mRNA vaccines has underscored the critical importance of nanomedicine in today's world. I sincerely hope that our high-throughput microfluidic formulation solution will significantly accelerate the development of nanomedicines.

"Our aim is to enable patients suffering from cancer, infectious diseases, and rare conditions to have access to more effective and targeted treatments and to access the medicine as fast as possible, ultimately saving lives.

“We have established a commercialisation team focused on bringing the technology into a stage ready for external investment with the support of the NovaUCD team. Our plan is to launch a first laboratory-oriented system by mid-2025.”

Professor Fiona Timmins, UCD Dean of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems and Head of the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems.

The recipient of the 2024 NovaUCD Consultancy of the Year Award is Professor Fiona Timmins, UCD Dean of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems and Head of the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems.

Prof Timmins, who has a strong interest in consulting, is an active researcher within the field of nursing and nurse education and has a strong track record in writing for publications, both as author and as an Editor.

In recent years Prof Timmins has carried out, or is carrying out four consultancy projects, through ConsultUCD, for clients including, Irish Hospice Foundation, UniGe (the University of Genoa) and the HRB. These consulting projects result in a high level of national and international collaboration and impact that serve to increase the reputation of UCD.

There is also a high level of impact upon the nursing profession and clients that they serve, through the enablement of upskilling of nursing professionals and the provision of robust evaluations of health-related projects to inform service delivery.

Prof Timmins is also a strong advocate and supporter of ConsultUCD within her School and within the UCD College of Health and Agricultural Sciences.

On receiving the 2024 NovaUCD Consultancy of the Year Award, Prof Timmins, said: “I have had a very positive experience of collaborating with ConsultUCD.

"The support received enables the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems to deliver high level consultancy services in a professional and efficient manner.

"I am grateful to all of my colleagues involved in these projects who have worked tirelessly to ensure a quality service and outcome that supports the school’s growing reputation as a centre of excellence globally and ultimately informs improvements in health and social care which is at the core of the school’s mission.”

The other four recipients of 2024 NovaUCD Innovation Awards

2024 NovaUCD Spin-out of the Year Award: EpiCapture
2024 NovaUCD Licence of the Year Award: Go Eve
2024 NovaUCD Founder of the Year Award: John Byrne, CEO and Founder, Corlytics
2024 NovaUCD Innovation Champion of the Year Award: Professor Nick Holden, UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering.

Annual Innovation Awards recipients announced

West Cork based company MyGug Ltd has announced a successful round of fundraising, securing more than €900,000 in capital. The investment was led by BVP, with participation from Enterprise Ireland.

MyGug Ltd, trading since early 2022 is at the forefront of innovation in food waste management with its pioneering food waste system which creates a circular economy for the user with the conversion of food waste into a clean renewable source of cooking energy and plant nutrient.

Sustainable zero-waste solution

MyGug harnesses the natural process of anaerobic digestion and provides a technology that brings this sustainable zero-waste solution to a new market. Most food waste is generated in small scale settings globally. These small-scale commercial settings (food businesses, educational establishments) are mostly dependent on collection services for disposal of food waste.

MyGug provides a solution that enables the user to create energy on-site deriving direct benefit from the food waste resource and contributing significantly to better environmental health.

MyGug’s modular solution has excellent functionality and a great design aesthetic providing a best practice solution that changes the face of food waste from a burden to a solution.

MyGug has already made a mark in the early days of the company’s progress with customers in food businesses and education settings in Ireland, the UK and Europe where the technology is showing itself to be a best practice and a zero-waste solution for food waste management.

This seed round of funding will enable the company to further expand its market reach both domestically and internationally.

"We are delighted to have the support of BVP and Enterprise Ireland as we embark on this next chapter of growth for MyGug," said Fiona Kelleher, CEO, MyGug.

"Moving forward with this support is vital for the company. We are fortunate to have an experienced investor base of BVP and Enterprise Ireland which brings expertise to widen network and relevant background which we see as a very valuable asset in our partnership, and we look forward to a positive and successful collaboration in bringing MyGug to a wider market.

"This investment will greatly support our efforts to deliver this innovative food waste solution to customers and create greater positive impact in the fight against climate change.”

Stephen Burdock, executive director, BVP said: “MyGug has been at forefront of introducing new age technology to solve growing food waste challenges for micro and medium-scale commercial establishments.

"The solution is simple to install and has been proven to work thereby providing a large unmet market opportunity for solving waste and energy challenges simultaneously for businesses across different sectors. The dynamic team of Fiona and Kieran have impressed us with their passion to drive this sustainable enterprise solution and their achievement so far.”

Significant milestone

This funding marks a significant milestone for MyGug and will be instrumental in driving its next phase of growth and innovation. MyGug was first supported by Yield Lab, Europe's largest early stage agrifood investor when it was named the AIB and Yield Lab AgTech Startup 2023 at the completion of the second AgTechUCD Agccelerator programme at UCD Lyons Farm, and has made great strides with the technology since then.

Cepta Duffy, department manager, Industrial and Lifesciences HPSU, Enterprise Ireland said: “MyGug is a high potential start-up bringing innovation and adaptability to the critical area of sustainability within the food waste management sector.

"Enterprise Ireland is proud to support the company on its journey to win business in international markets and I’d like to congratulate the team of their significant achievements to date. Under the leadership of CEO Fiona Kelleher, we are confident that MyGug can go from strength to strength and make its mark offering a highly innovative solution to meet the challenges associated with food waste globally.”

MyGug was named the winner of the Sustainability Category Award at the 2023 Irish Times Innovation Awards.

Agtech startup MyGug secures close to €1m in fundraising as it eyes expansion and innovation

NovaUCD, the hub of innovation and startup activities at University College Dublin (UCD), has announced the launch of a new Venture Capitalist in Residence programme and has also announced Gianni Matera, founder of Growing Capital, as its first Venture Capitalist in Residence (VCiR).

The programme, called Nova VCiR, offers experienced investors the opportunity to engage with the NovaUCD entrepreneurial community and support start-ups and early-stage ventures and enables venture capitalists to contribute their expertise to the NovaUCD startup community.

Simon Factor, head of new ventures and investments, NovaUCD, and Gianni Matera, founder, Growing Capital, the first Venture Capitalist in Residence at NovaUCD.

Deliver an investor masterclass

NovaUCD will only engage with one VCiR at a time and each VCiR programme will last up to six months. As part of the programme the VCiR will hold bi-weekly open office hours for meetings with NovaUCD client companies and deliver an investor masterclass at NovaUCD.

The VCiR will also be available to participate as a mentor and as a speaker on NovaUCD accelerator and business support programmes, review early-stage startup projects and spin-outs and participate in VC pitch panels at associated NovaUCD events.

Simon Factor, head of new ventures and investments at NovaUCD said: “I am delighted to announce the start of a new Venture Capitalist in Residence Programme at NovaUCD and am delighted that Gianni Matera, who has an outstanding track record in supporting and investing in start-ups in Ireland, has agreed to be our first VC in Residence.

'The first of many VCiRs at NovaUCD'

“The Nova VCiR programme is an additional feature to the package of benefits we offer our client companies and provides a way for our founders and entrepreneurs to access and engage with a VC onsite in a structured way. We hope that Gianni will be the first of many VCiRs at NovaUCD over the coming years.”

Gianni Matera founder, Growing Capital said: “I am thrilled to be taking part in this great new initiative at NovaUCD and it is truly an honour to serve as the inaugural Venture Capitalist in Residence.

"Over the next few months, I eagerly anticipate sharing my experiences as an early-stage investor with the vibrant community of NovaUCD founders and I aim to cultivate meaningful relationships with the diverse team of professionals at NovaUCD, known for their successful support of the emerging generations of entrepreneurs.”

Growing Capital is an early-stage investment firm specialising in supporting start-ups with their roots in Ireland. To date, Growing Capital has supported 27 Irish start-ups, including NanobOx, a UCD spin-out company supported through NovaUCD.

Since opening in 2003, NovaUCD has supported 550-plus companies and early-stage ventures and the NovaUCD entrepreneurial community has raised €1.3-plus billion in equity funding.