More student entrepreneurs are thriving
By Geraldine Fitzgerald
Graduates and students face an uncertain time in a post-pandemic world, but necessity is the mother of invention and some students have chosen to be masters of their own destiny by starting a business.
Student Inc. is a three-month accelerator summer programme for students to work on their business ideas. They receive €4,000 in funding, expert mentoring and training, and it’s been running online to give students full benefit of the programme throughout lockdown.
Student Inc. 2021 hosted an online showcase yesterday, 25 August, where 30 students from campuses across Munster showcased their innovative ideas for new business.
30 student entrepreneurs from across all MTU campuses, UCC, University of Limerick, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology and Limerick Institute of Technology have completed the 2021 programme.
The students ranged from first years to those completing a master’s degree, in all disciplines from medicine to animation and engineering, and all had entrepreneurship in common.
There was a fascinating array of business ideas on offer at this year’s Student Inc. including a cryptocurrency hardware wallet, software for sustainable online retail, a cheaper alternative for your authentic favourite fragrances, a web-based personal recovery tool for post-stroke patients, a low calorie cocktail and stop motion animation workshops for home and school.
“It was great to see the level of the interest in the Student Inc. programme rise again this year,” said Carole O’Leary, Regional Programme Manager for 3rd Level Entrepreneurship.
“Given an expected increase in youth unemployment – 29 per cent of the expected 390,000 predicted unemployment numbers are in the 15-34 age bracket (a rate of 16.1 per cent of the labour force which would be the highest unemployment rate since 1986), it is very positive to see the youth of today taking their destiny into their own hands. Student Inc. is an active initiative to help combat this projected youth unemployment.”
This year’s showcase featured two brothers, Nick and Jack Cotter, who started their first venture at 11 and 13. Now on to their third venture, The Cotter Crate, the brothers shared their entrepreneurial journeys with the Student Inc. participants and all those who tuned in to the live event.