The founder of a Galway based medical company has won a prestigious award for his entrepreneurship.
Brian Shields of Neurent Medical was awarded the Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-Up Founder of the Year for 2019 at an awards event at the Gibson Hotel, sponsored by Grant Thornton.
Neurent Medical Ltd is a privately held, venture backed, Galway based medical device company in the ear, nose and throat market. The company designs and develops products for treating inflammatory diseases of the nasal cavities. The initial product offering reduces ehe primary symptoms of rhinitis, congestion and rhinorrhoea. Neurent Medical was established by Brian Shields and David Townley as a spin-out from the National University of Ireland, Galway.
The Founder of the Year Awards, now in their third year, acknowledge and celebrate the commitment entrepreneurs and start-ups have made to build world class companies of the future.
There were nine finalists for the 2019 Award, all of whom were voted for by their peers who have been taking part in Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-Up (HPSU ) Founders Forum over the last year.
Gillian Doyle, Cerebreon Technologies and Brendan Sheppard, SmartFactory were also acknowledged for their companies’ achievements to date and voted as runners-up on the night. Other finalists included: Declan Soden, Mirai Medical, Ollie Walsh, Pip iT, Rob Leslie, Sedicii, Aisling Teillard, Tandem HR Solutions, Pat Kirby, Tixserve and Rafael Pages, Volograms.
There 200 participants within the Founders Forum represent a range of sectors including software, medical devices, food, engineering and construction. The forum provides a platform for founders to help each other succeed internationally and scale faster.
The Founder of the Year was decided by a judging panel which included representatives from Enterprise Ireland, Ergo, Grant Thornton, Google and Atlantic Bridge. Former England and current Leinster coach Stuart Lancaster also joined the event to share his perspective on leadership and building ambition in high performing teams.
Addressing the awards ceremony, Kevin Sherry, executive director of Global Business Development, Enterprise Ireland, said the Founder of the Year Awards promoted Ireland’s ecosystem of entrepreneurs who had displayed the potential and commitment to building their businesses and realising their global ambition.
"We are delighted to build on the success of the awards which are now in their third year, and the Founders Forum which acknowledges and celebrates high-performance, innovative Irish start-ups. On behalf of Enterprise Ireland, I wish to congratulate Brian Shields from Neurent Medical on winning this year’s award. I wish also to pay tribute to the other finalists, all of whom were shortlisted by their peers, which is a real testament to their potential and future success.”
