15 participants have been selected from about 200 applications for a new specialist food and agriculture entrepreneurship programme at the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering in partnership with Teagasc.
The announcement was made in Enterprise Ireland's Innovation Arena at the 2024 National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska in Co Laois.
The 12-month Food and Agriculture Sustainable Technology Innovation Programme (FAST-IP) aims to drive innovation in the country's food and agricultural sector by supporting needs-led innovation, creating start-ups with the capability to scale and sell internationally, and generating new jobs for the sector in Ireland.
FAST-IP also aims to enhance innovation in the food and agri sector by providing programme participants with the necessary skills to evaluate, select and validate ideas for new products and services in this sector and to accelerate the commercialisation pathway for the identified products and services.
FAST-IP is currently underway at the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre at UCD Lyons Farm in Co Kildare and will be delivered annually until the end of 2029.
It is accredited by UCD at Level 9 on the National Qualifications Framework and participants who complete the programme will be awarded a Graduate Diploma in Agrifood Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The AgTechUCD Innovation Centre, which is part of NovaUCD, is focused on promoting and accelerating early-stage start-ups and SMEs with disruptive innovations in the agri, agtech, agrifood, equine and veterinary sectors, as they build their innovative businesses into leading enterprises creating jobs.
Professor Kate Robson Brown, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, said getting nearly 200 applications for FAST-IP's inaugural programme is a strong indication of the demand for the Innovators’ Initiative programme from across Ireland and internationally.
"I would especially like to congratulate the 15 participants who have been selected for the first programme following a rigorous interview process and I wish them every success over the coming year," Professor Robson Brown said.
"During the next year the participants will work together to discover real world needs in the food and agricultural sector through their immersive experiences in industry environments and bring innovative solutions to address the identified needs in a commercially viable manner with the aim of creating start-ups and generating new jobs," she added.
Professor Frank O'Mara, Teagasc Director, said the world leading research, expertise and facilities from the UCD and Teagasc partnership and supporting industry networks, will demonstrate the breadth and depth of the agri-food sector to the participants.
"We look forward to seeing the emerging opportunities from the participants to deliver new solutions for the longer term sustainability of the agri-food sector," he said.
