Dragon's Den star praises GMIT students' diverse ideas in enterprise competition

Dragon’s Den television personality Bobby Kerr paid a visit to GMIT’s Galway campus recently to attend an exhibition by final year students studying entrepreneurship. Mr Kerr viewed over 60 entrepreneurship project posters by degree students in a range of disciplines from Business and IT, to Heritage, Software Development, and Rural Enterprise & Environmental Management.

The posters describe the students’ enterprise ideas which they submitted to the inaugural SCCUL Student Enterprise 2013 competition sponsored by Galway City Council. The competition aims to support and foster SMEs in the Galway region and is open to all undergraduate students in Galway. The winner will receive a top prize of €1,250, a cash prize of €500 for second place and €250 for third place.

Bobby Kerr, who leads the judging panel for the SCCUL Student Enterprise Competition, is a founding dragon of RTE’s Dragons Den. He featured on the hit show between 2008 and 2012.

After viewing the enterprise project poster exhibition, Mr Kerr complimented the students on their diversity of ideas and said many have the potential to develop into start-ups. “The students’ confidence and professionalism allied to their specialist skills bode well for the future of enterprise in the Galway region”, he said.

GMIT’s Ivan McPhillips, Exhibition organiser and Business School lecturer in Entrepreneurship, says the range of ideas on show reflects high levels of creativity and innovation among GMIT students: “The SCCUL Student Enterprise Awards 2013 competition offers a fantastic opportunity for all Galway students to develop their business ideas thanks to the cash boost of the prize,” he says.

The award winners will be presented at a special SCCUL Enterprise Awards prize-giving ceremony and business expo in NUI Galway at the end of January.