Participants selected for new UCD-Teagasc agrifood entrepreneur programme
Posted 23 September, 2024
Professor Frank O’Mara, Teagasc Director; Fiona Delaney, FAST-IP participant; Marina Donohoe, Head of Research and Innovation at Enterprise Ireland; Peter Burke TD, Minster for Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Natasha Page-Wood, FAST-IP participant; Brian Russell, FAST-IP participant, and Professor Kate Robson Brown, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact Credit: Orla Murray/Coalesce
A new €7m specialist food and agriculture entrepreneurship programme at UCD has chosen its first ever group of participants.
The cohort of 15 were selected from about 200 applications looking to be part of the Food and Agriculture Sustainable Technology Innovation Programme (FAST-IP) - a 12-month course that will be delivered by the UCD School of Biosystems and Engineering in partnership with Teagasc, the food and agriculture advisory board in Ireland.
The inaugural FAST-IP is already underway at the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre at UCD Lyons Farm in Kildare, with the programme planned to run annually until 2029.
The AgTechUCD Innovation Centre, which is part of NovaUCD, promotes early-stage start-ups and SMEs with disruptive innovations in the agri, agtech, agrifood, equine and veterinary sectors, as they build their innovative businesses into leading enterprises creating jobs.
FAST-IP, aimed at mid-career professionals, is accredited by UCD and focuses on developing market validated solutions to unmet needs in the areas of agricultural technology and food sustainability sectors.
Alongside this, participants spend 8-10 weeks immersed in agricultural environments including farms and food processing companies.
“Growing up in Africa in a wildlife conservation home instilled in me a deep love and increasing concern for the loss of our natural habitats,” said participant Natasha Page-Wood.
“This influenced my interest in the first place in applying for the FAST-IP entrepreneurship programme with its structured and collaborative approach. I am delighted to have secured one of the 15 places, and I am looking forward to the year ahead as an exciting opportunity to focus on improving food systems for both people and the planet.”
Frank OMara, Director of Teagasc, and James Healey, Teagasc, meeting with Edel Mitchell and Nick Holden, UCD, along with participants of the FAST-IP programme at the Teagasc exhibit at (opens in a new window)#ploughing2024 (opens in a new window)pic.twitter.com/bXwofc6YG4
— Teagasc (@teagasc) (opens in a new window)September 18, 2024
FAST-IP is supported under the Innovators’ Initiative Programme co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027.
Professor Kate Robson Brown, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact said the number of applicants for the inaugural programme showed “a strong indication of the demand for this exciting Innovators’ Initiative programme from across Ireland, and indeed internationally”.
“I would especially like to congratulate the fifteen participants who have been selected for the first programme… During the next year [they] will work together to discover real world needs in the food and agricultural sector through their immersive experiences in industry environments and bring innovative solutions to address the identified needs in a commercially viable manner with the aim of creating start-ups and generating new jobs,” she continued.
“The ambition of FAST-IP is to drive innovation in Ireland’s food and agricultural sector by supporting needs-led innovation, creating start-ups with the capability to scale and sell internationally, and generating new jobs for the sector in Ireland. I wish the participants every success in the year ahead,” said Peter Burke TD, Minster for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
During this year’s programme, and those to follow, UCD and Teagasc will utilise their extensive networks, connections, domain expertise, entrepreneurial experience, and track-record for supporting, fostering and spinning out start-up companies to support its participants.
“The world leading research, expertise and facilities from the UCD and Teagasc partnership and supporting industry networks, will demonstrate the breadth and depth of the agri-food sector to the participants,” said Professor Frank O’Mara, Teagasc Director.
“We look forward to seeing the emerging opportunities from the participants to deliver new solutions for the longer-term sustainability of the agri-food sector.”
Marina Donohoe, Head of Research and Innovation at Enterprise Ireland, added: “FAST-IP is designed to fast-track problem solving and idea generation in the AgTech sector and Enterprise Ireland is excited about the potential to develop new start-ups and drive an innovation agenda in this critical sector for Ireland.”
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations (with materials from Micéal Whelan, UCD Research and Innovation)
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
