Meili Co-founder Receives 2025 NovaUCD CEO of the Year Award
Mike McGearty, co-founder and CEO of Meili, a travel tech company, has been named recipient of the 2025 NovaUCD CEO of the Year Award.
The company which Mike McGearty co-founded in 2021 with Bobby Healy, Chief Technology Officer, builds technology that enables car rental companies to integrate and partner directly with airlines and travel brands, delivering a friction-free traveller experience.
Mike McGearty was presented with his Award by Professor Orla Feely, President, University College Dublin (UCD) during the annual presentation of the NovaUCD Innovation Awards which took place at the UCD University Club.
Prof. Orla Feely, President, UCD and Mike McGearty
On receiving the 2025 NovaUCD CEO of the Year Award, Mike McGearty, CEO and co-founder, Meili, said, “I’m honoured to receive this Award, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire Meili team. From the start, our mission has been to transform how car rental integrates with airlines and travel brands, creating a seamless experience for travellers while delivering the highest-converting ancillary platform in the market.”
Since Meili was established, it has scaled rapidly and has already secured nearly 40 partnerships with major global players, including; FreeNow, SAS Airlines, Lufthansa, TravelStart, FrenchBee and Daa. The company is currently on boarding on average one new partner per month.
During 2024 the company raised €8.1 million in a Series A extension funding round, led by Schooner Capital, a Boston-based private investment firm, and Tribal Ventures, a Dublin-based VC firm, to fuel the company’s growth, to strengthen its existing partnerships, and to drive the development of new products. Schooner and Tribal led a similar raise in 2023 and Meili has now secured over €20 million in funding.
At the end of last year Meili, which currently has a staff of 40+ people, relocated its headquarters from NovaUCD to NexusUCD in Dublin.
Mike McGearty added, “Meili will continue to grow its offering with new innovative products designed to support the wider travel industry. Our rapid growth, strong partnerships, and commitment to innovation are just the beginning. This recognition reaffirms our mission to redefine ancillary distribution and drive meaningful impact across the travel industry.”
The annual NovaUCD Innovation Awards highlight successes made in areas of knowledge transfer, consultancy, entrepreneurship and the promotion of an innovation culture, by members of the UCD research, innovation and entrepreneurial community.
Speaking at the event Professor Orla Feely, UCD, President, said, “UCD is committed to delivering impact from our leading research and innovation across a broad range of disciplines. The NovaUCD Innovation Awards, which have become a key annual event, recognise the achievements of our research, innovation and entrepreneurial communities and demonstrate our strength in developing talent and creating and applying knowledge to deliver impact.
I congratulate all who have received this year’s Awards and wish the Awardees every future success as they continue to deliver impact in Ireland and further afield through their commercialisation, consultancy, entrepreneurial and innovation activities."
A total of 7 Awards were presented by Professor Feely and the other Awardees are;
2025 NovaUCD Innovation Award: Professor Wenxin Wang, UCD Charles Institute of Dermatology, UCD School of Medicine
2025 NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award: Dr Emer Doheny, UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Dr Jayne Carberry, UCD School of Medicine
2025 NovaUCD Licence of the Year Award: Professor Peter Kennedy, UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
2025 NovaUCD Spin-out of the Year Award: LaNua Medical, co-founders, Tom Fitzmaurice, Dr Cormac Farrelly, UCD School of Medicine, Dr Eoin O'Cearbhaill and Dr Sajjad Amiri, UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
2025 NovaUCD Consultancy of the Year Award: Dr Siobhan Mullan, UCD School of Veterinary Medicine
2025 NovaUCD Innovation Champion of the Year Award: Professor Kevin O’Connor, BiOrbic, Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy and UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science.
NovaUCD is supported under the KT Boost Programme co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union, through the ERDF Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027.
ENDS
10 April 2025
For more information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, NovaUCD, UCD Research and Innovation, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie.