Winner of €25,000 Cash Prize To Be Announced At Web Summit 

After an intensive pitching round to a panel of six judges, Tender Scout, Restored Hearing and Love & Robots have made it through to the final round of the ESB Spark of Genius Award at the 2014 Web Summit.

Thirty start-ups ranging from consumer sentiment apps, online fashion retailing, social gaming, crowd funding and reading recommendation services pitched to a judging panel that included Niamh Bushnell, Dublin Commissioner for Startups, John McKiernan, Business Development at ESB, David O’Kelly from KPMG and Mary Moloney from CoderDojo Foundation. After intensive pitching at an event in the NDRC, the final three were announced as follows:

Tender Scout

TenderScout SaaS increases your likelihood of success when competing for public sector contracts. www.tenderscout.com

Restored Hearing

Restored Hearing provides scientific solutions to problems with hearing. Our mission is to protect people from tinnitus and promote healthy hearing. www.restoredhearing.com

Love & Robots

Interactive design brand. Using 3d printing, we create unique and customizable products, powered by our design community. www.loveandrobots.com

These three finalists will now go onto pitch their business at the Web Summit on November 4th and the winner will be presented with the award and a cash prize of €25,000 plus a range of services to assist them in the start-up phase.

Past winners of the ESB Spark of Genius include SmartThings, recently acquired by Samsung for a reported $200m, as well as Viddyad and Datahug.

Representing the judging panel, Eamon Leonard Chief Community Officer of Web Summit said, ‘We’re really delighted with the strong field of Irish startups for ESB Spark of Genius. This year’s event will provide a platform for indigenous Irish companies to get funding, mentorship and publicity that will aid them in their journey.’

Speaking at the event, John McKiernan from ESB said, ‘The companies that pitched their ideas here today, and in particular the three companies that have made it through to the final of ESB Spark of Genius highlight the talent and entrepreneurial spirit that exists in Ireland today. The success of previous winners proves that this competition is an important launch pad to the world tech stage, and ESB is delighted to help them on their journey.’

Over 20,000 people will attend Web Summit this year. Keynote speakers include Peter Thiel, PayPal founder, ‘Entourage’ actor and founder of Shift.com, Adrian Grenier, the founder of Dropbox, Drew Houston, former CEO of Apple, John Sculley and CEO of Evernote Phil Libin.

Tickets are limited and available at www.websummit.net