2020 Ireland National Startup Awards

Manna Drone Delivery wins Grand Prix Award

by Billy Linehan

Manna Drone Delivery has picked up the Grand Prix Startup of the Year Award, at the National Startup Awards 2020. The Awards took place on Thursday, 10th December in a virtual ceremony streamed live via Vimeo.

Manna Drone Delivery, founded by Bobby Healy (formerly of CarTrawler), is an Emerging Technology company focusing on commercial drone delivery across multiple sectors.

Manna Drone’s service was originally conceived as a way to deliver to customers quickly and easily, with the company focusing its trials on restaurants. Its drones can travel at speeds of up to 80km/h.  The company recently announced a trial with Tesco to deliver groceries via drone.

Another great day for #dronedelivery ?? #mannaaero #sunrise #nofilter pic.twitter.com/JTHw2qxOp0

— ? Manna Drone Delivery ? (@MannaAero) December 8, 2020

The Awards ceremony was launched by Minister for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD.

For a second year I was invited to join the panel of judges for the finals. It was a pleasure to meet the cream of Irish startups – even though it was via Zoom.

The National Startup Awards recognises innovative, successful and aspirational Irish startup companies who have launched their businesses in the last five years. This year, awards were presented to deserving winners across including tech, fintech, medtech retail, product and a special category to reflect the response to the COVID-19 emergency with gold, silver and bronze winners being awarded in each category.

The National Startup Awards recognises innovative, successful and aspirational Irish startup companies who have launched their businesses in the last five years. This year, awards were presented to deserving winners across including tech, fintech, medtech retail, product and a special category to reflect the response to the COVID-19 emergency with gold, silver and bronze winners being awarded in each category.

List of gold award winners

Zendra Health, Covid Pivot / Response Startup

Micron Agritech, Early Stage Startup

Nua Fertility, eCommerce & Retail Startup

Manna Drone Delivery, Emerge-Tech Startup

Flexiwage, Fintech Startup

The Naked Collective Ltd, Food and Drink Startup

Galenband, Medtech Startup

Anewmum, Product and Manufacturing Startup

VRAI, Social / Sustainable Startup

Bowsy Ltd., Tech Startup

Selecting two of the Gold Award winners to highlight.

Product and Manufacturing Startup gold award winner

Marian Kennedy of Clonmel based ‘anewmum’ has created a better postpartum experience with a range of postpartum self-care products that comforts and supports.

She told me “I am over the moon to accept the award, thank you so very much to the judges for believing in me and anewmum, I’m so excited for the future and winning this award at this point in time for the business couldn’t have happened at a better time.”

Social / Sustainable Startup gold award winner

VRAI, founded by Niall Campion, was named gold winner in the Social or Sustainable Startup category. The company with a head office in Temple Bar combines virtual reality, AI and IOT technologies to create training simulations for hazardous environments. It announced in August that it had secured €1.2m in seed funding. Recently VRAI were awarded a Defence and Security Accelerator contract with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The focus Niall says is “on improving the RAF’s ability to measure and predict pilot performance using a combination of VR & data analytics technology”.

VRAI has adopted the innovative Triple Bottom Line business reporting framework where they not only measure Profit, but also their impact on People & the Planet. The company is also committed to Ireland’s first all-female national Tech Apprenticeship Programme.

Sponsors for the awards were Enterprise Ireland, McCann Fitzgerald, Microsoft for Startups, Microfinance Ireland & StartUp Accountant

Enterprise Ireland main sponsors

Enterprise Ireland’s Jennifer Melia comments on the importance of the awards especially this year “We are delighted to partner with the National Startup awards for the 4th consecutive year running. These awards take on a particular significance in 2020 after a challenging 9 months for the business community not only on a business level but also on a personal level. The National Startup Awards provide these companies with the foundation from which they can grow and thrive. It is always a privilege and a pleasure to celebrate the newest companies and ambitious entrepreneurs emerging across the country”

Stephen Dillon, Founder of Startups.ie, wraps up the event with these words “Despite the dual challenges of COVID-19  and Brexit once again we were amazed and inspired by the quality and passion of the Startups involved in this year’s awards. Our startup entrants have demonstrated incredible resilience and ingenuity. It is these companies that will help to create employment and help to rebuild our economy after these current challenges have passed.

For more information on the awards visit www.startupawards.ie

Billy Linehan of Celtar business advisers

Billy Linehan is an experienced small business adviser and business mentor. An advocate of Startups and Small Business, he has a specialist interest in startup ecosystems. Billy is a regular contributor to Irish Tech News.

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