EIT-M BoostUp! Competition Showcases Ireland’s Leading Manufacturing Start-ups

On June 20th, the Ireland edition of BoostUp! – a start-up competition organised by EIT-Manufacturing – was held at the Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) facility in Mullingar.

The competition has been supporting manufacturing-focused start-ups across Europe to internationalise and scale their businesses since 2020. This year, the competition format was run in Ireland for the first time, to specifically address Irish manufacturing start-ups.

During the event, six finalists pitched their innovative approaches and solutions to solving some of the challenges faced by the manufacturing industry, in front of an expert judging panel.

Winner of first prize was DataMinfo, who specialise in building data driven solutions to help manufacturers increase plant capacity. Their machine monitoring system allows manufacturers to address production bottlenecks in real-time through live shop floor displays and automated decision-making.

I-Form spinout Infraprint, winner of second prize, utilise a novel technology to 3D-print polymer parts which are significantly stronger than any other system currently on the market. Infraprint produces components for the aerospace and space sectors.

Third-place recipient Mersus has created the Avatar Academy platform, a game-changer for industrial training. Award-winning graphics combine with unparalleled technical performance on hand-tracking mobile VR hardware, capturing valuable data to assess trainee performance. 

All six finalists each receive four months of business support from EIT-M to help achieve their goals, with the three winners also sharing in a total prizemoney of €15,000 to support their European go-to-market strategy.

All finalists also receive an invitation to a matchmaking event in Europe, providing them with valuable opportunities to connect with potential customers.

I-Form Centre Manager John Oliver highlighted the value of the competition:

“For the winners of the EIT-Manufacturing BoostUp! competition, there is an enormous potential to avail of the support and networking opportunities which EIT provides, linking start-up's with larger manufacturing companies across Europe”.

The achievements of all finalists in the BoostUp! competition underscores Ireland’s position as a global hub for high-tech manufacturing.

The continental collaboration opportunities provided through the competition will also serve to strengthen a thriving manufacturing ecosystem in Ireland and across Europe.