Athlone firm third in national start-up business contest

An Athlone company has taken third place in the Irish segment of a European start-up competition.

Mersus, based at Inis Carraig, Golden Island, was won of the three winners of the BoostUp! 2023 – Ireland edition competition.

The competition is organised by European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union and co-organised by atim cluster, a group of businesses, academia and government agencies, to deliver the vision of the Midlands as an international centre in advanced manufacturing.

BoostUp! gives start-ups the opportunity to internationalise their business and access a large European network.

Mersus’ Avatar Academy platform is automating the creation of Virtual Reality experiences in a ‘Drag & Drop’ format. Award-winning graphics combine with unparalleled technical performance on hand-tracking mobile VR hardware. What is unique is how it captures the data generated allowing regulators to assess/trace trainee performance/progress.

Mersus also won €2,500 to support its European go-to-market strategy as well as growth support for business development by the innovation network EIT Manufacturing.

Six finalists, all businesses from Ireland, presented their companies and their innovative approaches at Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) in Mullingar recently. The audience consisted of guests from the Irish manufacturing industry and an expert jury, which selected three of the six as winners.

The winner was Limerick-based DataMinfo, which builds data driven solutions to help manufacturers increase plant capacity with a platform that can replace data complexity with actionable insights

All finalists will additionally be invited to a matchmaking event in continental Europe which will bring them in contact with potential customers.