Four enterprising students from Rosses Community School have been crowned the winners of the European Final of the Euronext Blue Innovation Award 2023.
Darragh Davidson, Dylan Doherty, Conor Mc Bride and Louie Mort invented a seaweed-based fertiliser, called Neptune Seafeed, with the guidance of their teacher Deirdre O’Reilly and a mentor from Euronext Dublin, Samantha Ryan.
Having brought their product to market in recent months, the business team won the Ireland National Final on April 26, 2023, where they competed against other blue economy mini companies from second-level schools around Ireland. The exciting event was hosted by Euronext on the original trading floor of the Irish Stock Exchange.
On Wednesday the team from Rosses Community School participated in the European Final live online event. Student entrepreneurs from Belgium, Denmark, France,
Italy, Norway, Portugal, The Netherlands and UK presented their Blue Economy business projects and answered questions from the judges.
Neptune Seafeed was announced as the winner based on the highest scores in business model, innovation, a working solution and financial literacy skills.
The judges were very impressed with the quality of research carried out by the team and their commitment to all the principles being promoted by the Blue Challenge.
Speaking after the win, Teacher Deirdre O’Reilly said: “I’m delighted for the team. They have worked very hard, in all weathers, to bring their product to market. The team has enjoyed the support of local garden centres, sports clubs and golf courses so far and they are very keen to continue to grow their business. It’s great to see their hard work paying off.”
Reflecting on the students’ experiences in recent weeks, Helen Raftery CEO Junior Achievement Ireland commented: “Partnering with Euronext allowed us to raise awareness of the Blue Economy with the support of our participating schools. The opportunity to work on a business project with such an important focus was motivating for the students, while getting the chance to build their team working skills and confidence in presenting in front of a large audience will stand to all the young participants. Having Ireland take the overall prize is a wonderful bonus! Congrats to all the teachers, students and mentors.”
Daryl Byrne CEO Euronext Dublin said: “My colleagues and I were really impressed with the students we met last month when we hosted the national final of the Blue Innovation Award, a competition under the umbrella of the Blue Challenge, Euronext’s entrepreneurship education programme launched in partnership with JA Europe. It was a great opportunity to encourage their interest in business, financial services and the Blue Economy, with the support of 60 Euronext volunteers who were mentoring over 250 students across 9 countries. I’m thrilled but not surprised that Neptune Seafeed scooped the top prize. They are a great team and I wish them, and all of the students that participated in the Blue Challenge, every success in the future.”
