Galway's Brandon Blacoe from Salthill and Eibhlin O’Riordan from Knocknacarra, co-founders of ByoWave, were among those honoured by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland at an online gathering this week.
The two Galwegians, along with five other organisations from the SEI community, were recognised for their achievements.
ByoWave aims to alleviate the exclusion and isolation felt by people with disabilities due to inaccessible games controllers.
ByoWave creates modular, accessible, and customisable video game controllers for people with disabilities, enabling everyone to design their own controllers and have unrestricted access to the world of video-gaming.
In the last 12 months, ByoWave has been developing its prototypes ahead of a soft launch of the controllers on October 31.
Since its foundation in 2004, SEI has supported more than 400 social entrepreneurs across the country. This year, SEI saw 172 applications to its Ideas Academy, with 60 securing a place on the programme that supports people with early stages solutions to move from idea to action.
SEI also runs a number of other programmes for social entrepreneurs from start up to scale up.
Speaking at the gathering event, Tim Griffiths, CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, said there had been "incredible feats of human ingenuity and kindness" throughout the year.
"We've seen multiple Covid-19 vaccines developed at unbelievable speed and technology continue to transform the way we all stay connected. Alongside these break-throughs, social entrepreneurs are shifting the attitude and expectations about solving social problems from ‘should’, to ‘could’, to ‘will’. They are leading by example.
“This pandemic has proven that innovation and resilience are two of our strongest assets. All around us we see people not just coming up with ideas, but following through, working tirelessly - being the change they wish to see. We see that innovation and motivation across the SEI community and the nation.
Griffiths said the past 18 months had changed the world we live in, and the next 18 months would also be critical.
SEI will launch a funding programme for early-stage social entrepreneurs on October 18. SEI will make 32 bursaries of €250 available to people from under-represented and marginalised communities who have the spark of an idea for solving a social problem.
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI ) is a not-for-profit organisation that supports social entrepreneurs with innovative ideas to tackle Ireland’s social problems.
