PurOrigin, a new venture focused on designing and developing novel, energy efficient, domestic appliances, has won the University College Dublin 2012 NovaUCD 2012 Start-Up Award. In addition to the award the promoters of PurOrigin were presented with a €20,000 prize fund after being declared overall winner of University College Dublin’s 17th NovaUCD Campus Company Development Programme.
The promoters of PurOrigin are David Ronan, who is from Gort, Co Galway, and Finbarr Maguire who is from Kiltimagh, Co Mayo. Both have just completed masters of engineering degrees in energy systems at the UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and will graduate in December.
PurDry, PurOrigin’s initial product, is an innovative, energy efficient, clothes dryer designed to create a new niche in the tumble dryer market. PurOrigin is specifically targeting energy conscious consumers in European and US markets who are demanding innovative, technologically advanced, appliances such as PurDry.
PurDry has been designed to create a competitive advantage over conventional tumble dryers. PurDry requires no plumbing or installation; consumes less energy and has lower running costs; produces lower CO2 emissions; is compact, light weight, mobile, and folds for ease of storage and will be sold at a lower retail price in comparison with conventional tumble dryers.
Rising energy costs, poor efficiency ratings, and greenhouse gas emissions are major problems for industries and consumers globally. These issues will continue due to the forecasted growth in the world’s population. The Green Consumer Guide for instance estimate that electric motors in domestic white goods use 60 per cent of the world’s electrical power. Energy efficiency has also been identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC ) as one of the key methods of mitigating climate change.
Given these problems there is an increased global demand by consumers for white goods with innovative design, which are cost competitive, energy efficient, and have reliable functionality.
PurOrigin is focused on meeting this global demand by designing and developing energy efficient domestic appliances such as PurDry.
David Ronan and Finbarr Maguire have national and international industrial experience in designing and developing a range of products in the electrical, biomedical, automotive, and pharmaceutical industries.
In addition to the NovaUCD 2012 Start-Up Award, PurOrigin was presented with a cheque for €5,000 and will receive six-months free desk space at NovaUCD. In addition it will receive €6,000 worth of consultancy services from Deloitte; €3,000 worth of consultancy services from Arthur Cox; €1,500 worth of consultancy services from Aristo and €1,000 worth of financial services from Delaney Financial Consultancy and NewMarket Partnership. The AIB Seed Capital Fund will also provide an investor ready assessment of PurOrigin. PurOrigin will also receive a year’s free subscription to the AccountsIQ software which allows SMEs to manage their entire accounting requirements via the internet.
Some 190 new ventures and more than 310 individuals have now completed the NovaUCD Campus Company Development Programme (CCDP ), which is supported by Enterprise Ireland, and which has run annually since 1996.
The aim of this key UCD new venture support programme, held at NovaUCD over a nine-month period, is to assist UCD academic and research entrepreneurs in the establishment and development of new high-tech ventures to commercialise the output of their research activities. The programme assists participants in defining, developing, and transforming their innovative ideas into sound and commercially feasible new enterprises and in preparing detailed business plans.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Professor Peter Clinch, UCD vice-president for innovation said, “Innovation is the third pillar of UCD’s core mission and two of the university’s key innovation themes are putting knowledge to work and growing and supporting new business. Through the NovaUCD Campus Company Development Programme we are supporting our researchers in a process to put their knowledge to work by establishing new high-tech and knowledge intensive ventures. These ventures are translating the innovative ideas which have arisen from UCD research programmes and activities into value-added products and services and in time these ventures will also lead to the generation of highly-skilled employment.”
