Corkman wins Best Young Entrepreneur award for fertility aid Ayda

Update 3pm: A 24-year-old from Co Cork has won a €70,000 investment fund for his new business after he was crowned Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur.

James Foody from Glanmire was part of a team who developed a wearable device which helps women assess and maximize their fertility across a monthly period.

Twenty-four finalists are today competing to receive the over-all title of Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur.

Today's young business people were chosen from more than 400 applications to Local Enterprise offices around the country.

James said Ayda, which also won the prize for the Best Start-Up category, works by enabling women to find out the best time of the month for intercourse to maximise their chances of conceiving naturally.

"If they do conceive, they'll known exact gestation dates," he said.

He wins a €50,000 investment fund for his business through the Local Enterprise Offices. Ayda is based is based in Glanmire and San Francisco.

The company’s mobile phone app is being designed to help women track fertility levels and a wearable fertility tracker solution is also being developed, for launch mid-2016.

Earlier:

Twenty-four young business owners are today competing to be crowned Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur.

The 24 finalists were chosen from more than 400 applications to local enterprise offices around the country.

All of the young entrepreneurs will take part in a pitching session before a prize-giving ceremony at Google's Digital Innovation centre in Dublin city this afternoon.

25-year-old David Carey from Celbridge in Co Kildare is showcasing his sports nutrition and food business - Nutraplenish - in the Best Start-Up Business Category.

David said he always had a passion for business and enterprise, adding: "I started my first business at 17, and that gave me knowledge of the market and how the supply chain worked."