A KILKENNY entrepreneur who wants to keep people out of hospital with a revolutionary new home healthcare system has won the 11 Patrick Street €25,000 Give a Start business competition.
Joe Dalton from Callan Road, Kilkenny, was announced as winner of the competition with his company, Intellehealth, at a function in The Pembroke Hotel in Kilkenny last night.
The winning business plans to launch a telehealth device like a Sky TV box set that will allow people to monitor their medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease at home. It also plans to promote general health and wellness with an emphasis on prevention.
Joe Dalton said last night that home-based healthcare services, delivered in the same way as subscription-based satellite television, is the way forward.
“I believe each home in the future will have its own healthcare set-top box, offering services such as monitoring, management and education via a healthcare television channel. Health insurers will incentivise people to use these programmes by offering discounts to subscribers encouraging customers to be more health conscious etc.”
He said his aim is to help keep people out of hospital by helping them manage their symptoms before they reach crisis stage.
Dalton has already identified the technical and support service partners for his business. The initial focus will be on providing diabetes monitoring in the home. Services for patients with heart disease, COPD and other serious illnesses will follow.
“I am delighted to have won this competition. This will give me the support and back-up that I need as I bring my business idea to the next level. I very much look forward to joining the other energetic and successful business in 11 Patrick Street”.
Business owners based in 11 Patrick Street are behind the “Giving A Start” Competition aimed at encouraging entrepreneurs to follow their dream and start their own business.
The winning company will avail free of the services, support and experience of six businesses at 11 Patrick Street. In addition the owner John Ryan, is giving cash, accommodation and business support facilities to the winner - while the Kilkenny local authorities “Invest Kilkenny” initiative will provide support to the winner, including €1,000 seed money.
Five innovative new businesses were selected from a large entry to battle it out for the winning prize.
The judging panel consisted of well-known entrepreneur and Kilkenny native, Bobby Kerr, CEO of coffee chain Insomnia, Terry Clune, CEO of Taxback.com which employs almost 700 people worldwide, and Paula Fitzsimons, an expert in entrepreneurship and Director of Going for Growth.
Bobby Kerr said judges were very impressed with the high standard of finalists. “The idea of businesses supporting other businesses is fantastic and one of the ways that Ireland will grow itself out of recession.”
The owner of 11 Patrick Street, John Ryan, said there was a great response to the competition and the entries were short-listed based on their level of innovation, creativity and originality, understanding of commercial realities and overall potential for long-term success.
He said the high quality of entries was very encouraging and shows that despite the recession there are many budding entrepreneurs with great ideas and who need support to get up and running.
“There are a diverse group of businesses in 11 Patrick Street including a tax/accountancy firm, a PR company, a business training expert etc., so we thought why not reach out to help encourage an aspiring new business get up and running. Between all of us we have a lot of skill and experience which we can pass on.”
“We have already benefitted greatly from this initiative in working together and looking at how our experiences in business and of starting can be used to fast track an emerging business”
Kilkenny County Manager, Joe Crockett, said the new Invest Kilkenny initiative will be on hand to provide support to the winner.Invest Kilkenny was established last November to market Kilkenny as a place to do business because of its global access, its talented labour pool, office space and quality of life.
The businesses participating are:-
- Paschal Bergin & Co Accountants & Tax Consultants
- MD Media PR Consultants
- Brian Dunlop Architects
- Optimize Recruitment
- Real Solutions Staff Training and Coaching
- Fitzwilliam Partnership, Strategic and Financial Management
- Pembroke Hotel
- 11 Patrick Street Business Centre
www.elevenpatrickstreet.com Or www.investkilkenny.com
For further details contact:
Miriam Donohoe, MD Media
087 2392914
miriam@mdmedia.ie
NOTES ON FINALISTS:
Intellehealth:
Intellehealth is a new telehealthcare business start-up that proposes to provide home-based monitoring and management of existing medication conditions. It also plans to promote general health and wellness with an emphasis on prevention.
Joseph Dalton believes that home-based healthcare services are very much the way forward, delivered in the same way as subscription-based satellite television services are done. He says each home in the future will have its own healthcare set-top box, offering services such as monitoring, management and education via a healthcare television channel.
Health insurers will incentivise such programmes by offering discounts to subscribers who use them, encouraging customers to be more health conscious etc.
Dalton has already identified the technical and support service partners required. The initial focus will be on providing diabetes monitoring in the home. Services for patients with heart disease, COPD and other serious illnesses will follow.
Contact: Joseph Dalton, Callan Road, Kilkenny joe@ihsc.ie or 087 417 4860
Envierho Aqua Protect Ltd:
Envierho Aqua Protect Ltd specialises in waste water treatment technologies and anaerobic digester technologies. Set up by Dutch-born Tim Vierhout and Brenda Little Vierhout, the company wants to use waste from vacuum toilets and the food waste from the kitchen under the kitchen sink grinders and ferment them in a digester. Anaerobic bacteria will then convert this organic matter into methane gas which in turn can be used as an energy source.
The process would reduce water bills and produce energy from a waste product that normally would be flushed down the sewer, say Tim and Brenda. The process would eliminate the need for expensive waste water treatment plants that consume energy and create energy from waste organic matter.
The duo say there is no better time than now to develop the process as water is becoming expensive with the introduction of water charges and energy is becoming scarce and even more expensive.
Contact: Tim Vierhout and Brenda Little Vierhout, 056 7769317/087 8223643
Energy Partner:
Energy Partner is directed by Sean Doyle from Stoneyford and Rodger Greene from Johnstown. The company offers a unique service to business owners, home owners and construction and energy industry professionals by providing them with energy metering and monitoring software and hardware.
The range of products that can be installed across all sectors is vast and continues to grow. These include everything from desktop solutions to web-based management systems, and from simple plug in meters to 16 channel distribution board meters.
Energy Partners intend supplying and installing an online, web-based energy service solution as a primary product to companies and organisations who want to save money on their energy bills.
Contact: Rodger Green on 086 336 6277
Animal Farmacy Ltd:
Animal Farmacy Ltd was formed in October 2010 and its owners/directors are Trish McOwan, Clare Hughes MPSI, Joseph Haire MPSI and Bernadette Kenny MVB.
Animal Farmacy Ltd offers Animal Health products and services at very competitive prices to the farming and equine market. Its services include animal treatment record and online drug sales delivery, testing services, AI software management systems and training courses.
The company believes that farmers may be tempted to cut expenditure on animal health during periods of recession. However, it is in such times that the return on investment is greatest. AF Ltd intends to capitalise on this and help the farmer to become more profitable.
Decreasing the incidence of disease will reduce costs at farm level and thereby increase efficiency. Disease is costly for farmers. AF will also offer farmers the option to buy remedies at better prices and say its pricing structure will be open and transparent making the comparison easier for the customer.
Contact: Trish McOwan 056 7712550 or email Trish@animalfarmacy
The Secret Recipe Company:
Tom Watts from Thomastown has been making and selling cucumber pickle under the “Secret Recipe” label since last October. The Secret Recipe Company is a new business model which works in much the same way as a record label or publishing house. Thegoal behind the company is to find great recipes and release them.
Tom got the idea for his business venture when a friend gave him some home-made cucumber pickle to put in a cheese sandwich. The taste stuck and resonated with him and the cucumber pickle became secret recipe number one.
Tom is hunting for new recipes and will give a percentage of sales to the owners. A tasting panel has been established to taste recipes. If a product gets past the panel, he signs a non-disclosure agreement with the recipe owner, allowing him to cost the production.
He says his company offers people a unique opportunity to commercialise a secret or family recipe without having to set up in food production, or create a brand which will successfully stand out in an extremely crowded marketplace.
Tom recently appeared on the Dragon’s, Den programme and received an endorsement from John McKenna of the Bridgestone Guide,
Contact: Tom Watts on 086 3608755
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A little bit of Sparkle arrives to the Pembroke Kilkenny
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