Student Enterprise Challenge attracts biggest ever entry

In the same year it introduced Meath Enterprise Week in 2014, Meath Enterprise also launched the MEW Student Enterprise Challenge, an annual competition open to students of all secondary schools in County Meath, where participants compete for various awards such as best startup business, best new business idea and best pitch.

The competition has grown in popularity and prominence during the past decade among second-level students in many of County Meath’s post-primary educational establishments.

The aim and purpose of the Student Enterprise Challenge is to reward and encourage entrepreneurial creativity, innovation and participation among young people while at the same time providing a platform for aspiring young entrepreneurs to engage with and learn from leading entrepreneurs and businesses from across the region.

Now marking its tenth year, the 2023 MEW Student Enterprise Challenge programme has attracted record numbers of entries from the following schools:

St Patrick’s Classical School, Navan

O’Carolan College, Nobber

Beaufort College, Navan

Loreto Secondary School, St Michael’s, Navan

Eureka Secondary School, Kells

St Ciaran’s Community Schools, Kells

St Oliver Post-Primary School, Oldcastle

Ashbourne Community School

Dunshaughlin Community College

Enfield Community College

Athboy Community School

Coláiste Pobail, Ráth Chairn

Over the years the competition has been staged, several past winners have gone on to gain significant investments in their businesses from local entrepreneurs as a direct result of taking part in the MEW Student Enterprise Challenge.

The students and schools which get through the heats and semi-finals to the Student Enterprise Challenge Grand Final will compete for a total prize fund of €3,250, with a first prize of €600 on offer for the winner of Best Startup Business, €400 for the winner of the Best New Business Idea and €250 for the Best 5-Minute Pitch. The winning schools in each category will receive a corresponding amount.

This year’s heats took place online where competitors submitted a three-minute video presentation of their new business or startup idea for assessment by a panel of judges. Successful individuals and teams were then selected to go forward to compete in the semi-finals in the Kells Tech Hub on 14th and 15th November next during Meath Enterprise Week.

The Student Enterprise Challenge Grand Final will take place on Tuesday 28th November.

Gary O’Meara, CEO of the Meath Enterprise, says: “Our Student Enterprise Challenge is always an eye-opening event for us at Meath Enterprise in terms of the creativity, ingenuity and application of the students involved from the heats right up to the final. The confidence and composure all the students show as they go through their presentations is always heartening to see.

“It really shows that we have a rich vein of innovation present among the students in our secondary schools, so if we can mine that and encourage it at an early stage, then there is a very bright future for entrepreneurship in this country.”