Pitch Perfect
Applications and audience tickets for Pitch Perfect 2026 are now closed. You can check Pitch Perfect 2026 winner here. You can register your interest for Pitch Perfect 2027 next year here.
🎤 Pitch Perfect 2026
📍 Venue: TU Dublin Concert Hall, Grangegorman
📅 Date: Thursday, 5 March 2026 | 🕑 Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
What is Pitch Perfect?
Pitch Perfect is the flagship event of Local Enterprise Week in Dublin, showcasing six of Dublin’s most exciting early-stage start-ups. Each finalist will pitch live to a judging panel in front of an audience of 300+ people at TU Dublin Concert Hall. The winner will receive a prize valued at over €10,000. This includes a €5,000 cash prize and a year of office space at one of the TU Dublin incubators to help grow their business (Grangegorman, Tallaght, or Blanchardstown).
🏆 Prizes
1st Prize:
- €5,000 Cash
- 12 months of free office space*
(Up to 4 persons at any TU Dublin campus incubator)
Runner-Up Prizes:
- €250 Cash
- 3 months of free hot desk usage*
(For one person at any TU Dublin campus incubator)
Get Your Tickets
Watch Dublin's top entrepreneurial talent battle in front of an audience of hundreds to win cash prizes and more for their start-up. This is not to be missed, so make sure to get your free ticket!
Audience tickets are available via Eventbrite.
We welcome teachers and lecturers who wish to take their student groups to this event to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. If you want to take a large group to Pitch Perfect, please contact StartUp@TUDublin.ie.
Meet the Finalists
- Lauren Price – Little Mellos creates screen-free, multisensory calming toys that help young children manage big emotions through guided breathing and sensory cues.
- Sophie O'Neill – TREX is a social app that centralises trusted, friend-driven recommendations and uses AI to turn them into actionable plans.
- Myles Garland – Kefircoffee™ has created a new category of Enhanced Polyphenol Coffee, using a clean-label, additive-free process to naturally increase polyphenols and chlorogenic acids while improving flavour, all while keeping the caffeine content the same.
- Gavin Doyle – Examinaite leverages AI to deliver personalised learning experiences for every student, built by a teacher-turned-founder with nearly a decade of classroom experience.
- Ryan Ormonde – Saor Water provides custom-branded canned water as a sustainable alternative to plastic bottles, with low minimum order quantities ideal for events and businesses.
- Susie Kilcoyne – LOCKET is community powered commerce infrastructure for DTC brands, generating individual storefronts that adapt to customer context and behaviour in real time. P‑powered commerce infrastructure for DTC brands, generating personalised storefronts that adapt to customer context and behaviour in real time.
Meet the Judges
- Susan Spence (Head Judge):
Susan Spence was the co-founder of SoftCo, one of Ireland’s most successful software companies in financial procure-to-pay with over 1.5 million customers worldwide. The 2024 sale of SoftCo was one of the largest by a female entrepreneur in Ireland. Susan has been a co-founder of Manverton for over 10 years with a focus on equine and property investments. The Manverton Foundation is the charitable arm, supporting multiple initiatives including The Shona Project and Goal. In addition, Susan was Chair of the Dublin Regional Enterprise Plan, a Department of Enterprise initiative and has a long-term association with Going for Growth, an organisation that helps female entrepreneurs develop, and scale their business. Susan is a brand ambassador for Technical University Dublin and previously was the Irish Tatler Entrepreneur of the Year 2018, as well as a former recipient of the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year. She is a massive sports fan and in particular supports Leeds United
- Gillian McColgan: Angel investor, expert advisor and exited entrepreneur, with a global career in senior CTO roles, technology leadership and IP strategy, now mentoring and investing through AwakenAngels to support women-led innovation.
- Gary Fox: Founder, investor, and media operator building one of Europe’s most ambitious founder-led media platforms, The Entrepreneur Experiment. He has scaled a multi-format media business spanning podcasts, video, live events, and premium experiences, while working closely with leading brands and operators across business, performance, and capital.
How to Register Your Interest to Participate
Registration for this year's competition is now closed, but you can register your interest for the 2027 competition here.
Make sure to get your audience tickets here to join us for the live event this year!
Audience Tickets
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