‘Best Online Promotion of a Business’ to be awarded by Google at IBYE National Finals next Sunday, December 7th at Google HQ
Organisers of ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ competition have announced that Google is to present an award for ‘Best Online Promotion of a Business’ at the first-ever National Finals, taking place this Sunday, December 7th at Google European Headquarters in Dublin.
Of the 24 finalists from 17 counties competing in the inaugural national competition, a special award will be presented to one young entrepreneur, judged by Google to be the best at promoting their business online.
Launched earlier this year by Minister Richard Bruton T.D. and supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, over 1,000 young entrepreneurs, aged between 18 and 30 and from every county in Ireland, applied for the first ever ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ (#IBYE) competition, which is being run by the Local Enterprise Offices. Minister Bruton will announce Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur on stage at the National Final, presenting up to €100,000 in investment funds to the winners, In addition to the Google Award for Best Online Promotion of a Business, the winners will also be offered a place on the Google “Adopt a Startup” program 2015. Minister Bruton said: “Start-ups are crucial to job-creation, and while in Ireland we have great entrepreneurs we just don’t have enough of them. To support job creation for the future, we want to encourage young people to consider entrepreneurship as a valid and exciting career choice. That is why we’ve put in place ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ and why Google’s involvement in this competition through the Adopt a StartUp programme and the ‘Best Online Promotion of a Business’ award is so welcome. We are determined to support the people who start the businesses we need to create the jobs of the future.”
Paddy Flynn, Director of Product Quality Operations at Google Ireland said: “The Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition is a natural fit with the existing ‘Google for Entrepreneurs’ programme, which aims to foster entrepreneurship and empower the next generation of innovators to be successful. The ‘Best Online Promotion of a Business’ Award is an extension of that, offering one young entrepreneur the opportunity to find their audience, extend their reach, and grow their business both locally and internationally.” After a series of 31 local finals, eight regional finals and following an eight month search, the 24 finalists are now preparing to deliver their live pitches to the judging panel at the inaugural ceremony on Sunday, which will be hosted by Lecturer and Broadcaster, Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin. The IBYE judging panel includes entrepreneurs: Brian Crowley of the TTM Group and Sarah Doyle of Kinesense; Mary Fitzpatrick of the Local Enterprise Offices and Tom Hayes of Enterprise Ireland. Colin Goulding of Google will also join the panel for the final stage of judging at the National Final on Sunday. Updates and results are available through www.ibye.ie and by searching #ibye on social media and YouTube.
