FOUR budding entrepreneurs from Coláiste Chiaráin in Croom were among a group of talented students who took part in the Winners Boot Camp at the Nexus Innovation Centre in UL recently.
Fiona Hogan, Maurice Lynch, Ian Moloney and Adam Burke were invited to participate in the four-day business boot camp as winners in the Senior Category at the Student Enterprise Awards National Finals in April.
Supported by the Limerick Local Enterprise Office (LEO), the foursome earned their place at the Winners Boot Camp with their business idea Principal Apps, a mobile device application to help students revise for Junior Certificate maths. Students using the app answer a series of maths problems, with teachers then able to access the app to view the students’ results.
Heather Supple from Limerick LEO said that building on the success of last year, the Winners’ Boot Camp offered an invaluable opportunity for students to develop their skills in entrepreneurship, innovation and product development.
“LEO aims to promote young entrepreneurs like Principal Apps, who will bring their new-found knowledge back to Limerick and share it not only within their own micro-enterprise but also with the wider business community”, she said.
Twenty students from seven aspiring businesses participated in the boot camp, introduced in 2013 as part of the Student Enterprise Awards Programme, which this year had more than 17,000 budding entrepreneurs participate from almost 400 secondary schools across Ireland.
Nexus centre chief executive Andrea Deverell said she was astonished at the business acumen of the teenage entrepreneurs who took part in the boot camp.
“Our experienced entrepreneurs work with the transition year students to develop their businesses, and I can tell you that they are inspiring. They’re amazing. We have seven different companies here from all over the country and most of them are already at a point where they’re making revenue for their businesses.
“If they’re an example of what we’re capable of within the country, I think the economy is in safe hands”, Ms Deverell concluded.
