A YOUNG entrepreneur based at the Nexus Innovation Centre in UL has scooped an award from AIB for the best upcoming business in the Nexus programme.
Aislinn O’Flynn received the award, and a €500 cheque, for her business Sensomi, which designs and produces high quality sensory learning toys and tools using a customer centred approach.
The products offer essential opportunities for end users of all ages and abilities to actively engage in meaningful and enjoyable sensory experiences. Drawing on the skills required for healthy mental and physical development, Sensomi’s products assist the user in making connections with their surrounding environment and with other people.
Aislinn, a graduate of the Limerick School of Art and Design, where she studied Ceramic Design, has had a long-held passion for creativity, design and volunteering. She has been able to combine these interests to start her own business in the Nexus centre. Through her work in schools and care settings, she identified the importance of the senses in the learning process and during her studies she developed her first product with a number of autistic children and their teachers in a primary school in Cork.
Aislinn credited the Nexus centre with providing an ideal platform for a young entrepreneur like herself to set up business. She said: “I believe my time in the Nexus Studio has been pivotal in bringing Sensomi to the stage that it is currently at. I have learned more than I could have imagined in such a short space of time. I feel this is greatly due to the active learning aspect of the programme, which encourages start-ups to learn by doing.
“Starting a business is hugely exciting but it is also quite daunting, particularly as I am attempting to do it by myself. However, being part of the studio to street family here at Nexus provided me with the support I needed as I began to embark on this venture.”
According to Vinny Coghlan, Regional Business Banking Manager in AIB, Aislinn was a deserving winner of the upcoming business award. He cited the way in which Aislinn utilised the support provided by Nexus, as well as her innate creativity, as key factors in naming her as the winner.
Mr Coghlan said: “We are delighted to present this award to Aislinn. Its great to see how Aislinn has developed her business skills through Nexus in order to enable her to progress her initial idea and design to a stage where she has a clear plan for engaging with the market.
“Aislinn’s willingness and ability to use the Nexus resources to develop her business skills and marry these learnings with a unique and innovative idea make her a worthy recipient of this award.”
