Three of Northern Ireland’s most promising start-ups who completed Catalyst’s entrepreneurship programme, Co-Founders, have been award a top prize fund sponsored by InterTradeIreland.
Run by Northern Ireland science and technology hub, Catalyst, Co-Founders is a free programme that is open to everyone with an interest in creating businesses that could change the world. This year saw 21 teams graduate from the programme, which has welcomed over 800 people since it began in 2017.
Designed to bring together people with a shared passion for entrepreneurship, Co-Founders sees participants from diverse backgrounds work together to explore and test their start-up concepts in a safe, risk-free environment. Through learning workshops, coaches, events and networking, the programme helps participants to develop their skillsets, grow their network, and primes them for accessing funding opportunities.
This year Catalyst has officially partnered with InterTradeIreland, who has donated a prize fund of £5,000 to be shared amongst the top three entrepreneurial teams, acknowledging the dedication, hard work, and incredible growth demonstrated by all over the past five months.
With 25 years’ experience, InterTradeIreland connects and helps businesses across the island of Ireland to trade cross-border, collaborate, innovate and attract investment, accelerating economic growth across both regions.
The recipients of the £5,000 sponsorship are:
- 1st Place (£2,500): Rephobia
Harnessing Virtual Reality technology for clinically proven, personalised exposure therapy, empowering you to face your fears and reclaim your freedom.
- 2nd Place (£1,500): SpareChair
SpareChair is an online booking system in the beauty and wellness industry
that aims to help businesses optimise capacity and maximise revenue, all while passing savings onto the customer.
- 3rd Place (£1,000): Vibrotect
Vibrotect is revolutionising how companies monitor and manage their employees’ exposure to harmful vibrations, preventing them from sustaining irreversible nerve damage leading to conditions such as Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). Vibrotect – Advanced Technology Keeping You Safe.
Claire Kelly, Co-Founders Programme Manager said: “Entrepreneurship has an extremely bright future in Northern Ireland, with the standard of our Co-Founders participants and their world-changing ideas going from strength to strength each year and so it is so important we continue to support our entrepreneurial ecosystem and our vision of ‘opportunity for all from world-leading innovation’.
“We are incredibly grateful to InterTradeIreland for their invaluable support in not only donating sponsorship money to our teams but also sharing their expert knowledge to help our start-ups to connect, collaborate, innovate and thrive as they grow.”
Shane O’Hanlon, Funding for Growth Manager at InterTradeIreland said: “We are proud to support the Co-Founders programme, which aligns with our key strategic priorities of enabling innovation as well as supporting entrepreneurs and start-ups across the island.
“Participation in this entrepreneurship programme can offer many benefits to those who want to develop and scale their start-up ideas, and this is evident in the high standard of finalists. I am sure that recipients of this sponsorship will continue to move forward at pace and maximise their potential.”
The Co-Founders programme is supported by the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland.
Register your interest for Co-Founders 2026 at www.co-founders.co.