A special award will be bestowed upon Wexford entrepreneur Dermot O’Shea, CEO of Taoglas, at the annual South East Technological University (SETU) New Frontiers showcase and awards in Waterford this Wednesday, 21 June.
The award is in recognition of Mr O’Shea’s outstanding achievements in growing Taoglas to a $100+ million business, employing nearly 500 people. He will officially join the SETU New Frontiers entrepreneurial hall of fame at this year’s awards ceremony held in the O’Connell Bianconi Building.
Dermot is a past participant of the SEEPP entrepreneur development programme, now known as New Frontiers. Dermot share his experiences of managing Taoglas through multiple stages of international growth and numerous product introductions. He joins two prior SETU New Frontiers Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame inductees: David Whelan of XR Engage and Edward Hendrick of Sonru, both of whom completed the Waterford New Frontiers programme.
The New Frontiers showcase and awards at SETU recognises and honours the dedication and achievements of the class of 2023 in planning and implementing successful business strategies and their completion of the Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers entrepreneur development programme.
This showcase event is an opportunity to see the current New Frontiers high potential companies and hear about their innovative technologies. In addition, the New Frontiers participant companies will present poster summaries of their respective businesses and will be on hand to speak to you about their businesses and their experiences of the New Frontiers programme.
During the previous funding cycle 2016-2021 48 SETU Waterford participants secured almost €20m in follow-on funding including €6.7m in an IPO, €9.4M from the Enterprise Ireland Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund and €2.5m in private investments and €1.5m in other state funds.
Other New Frontiers successes within the South East include: Near Form, Scurri, Stitcher Ads (Kargo).
In advance of the event, New Frontiers National Programme Manager at Enterprise Ireland, Paula Carroll said, “The achievements of companies like Taoglas is testament to the success of the New Frontiers programme in giving ambitious entrepreneurs the skills and expertise needed to build the successful businesses of the future. Enterprise Ireland considers this programme an essential element in its remit to support the development of early-stage businesses across counties of Ireland.”
New Frontiers Programme Director at SETU in Waterford, Eugene Crehan said, “We congratulate Dermot on his visionary leadership of Taoglas, from his days as a participant on our New Frontiers programme in Waterford to a global multinational business and a leader in GPS and IOT connectivity.”
About New Frontiers
The New Frontiers entrepreneur development programme at SETU is funded by Enterprise Ireland and is delivered twice annually in the South East region in SETU Waterford and in SETU Carlow. Phase 2 of New Frontiers is an intensive six-month programme where participants learn how to establish and run a new high growth potential company. Applications for New Frontiers Phase 1 at SETU Waterford are now open. See www.SETU.ie/newfrontiresWD
