UCC student wins Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Annie Madden came up with the idea for Fenuhealth with her sister Kate when they were aged 13 and 14 years old

Annie Madden was presented with the award by Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy.

A University College Cork student has been named Student Entrepreneur of the Year by Enterprise Ireland.

Annie Madden, co-founder of FenuHealth, was presented with the prestigious award at a ceremony today in Trinity College Dublin.

Ms Madden came up with the idea for Fenuhealth with her sister Kate when they were aged just 13 and 14 years old.

The company, which is based in Co Meath, creates powdered supplements for horses that can be added to feed to prevent stomach problems.

The product was originally developed for the BT Young Scientist competition in 2015 and, with support from Meath County Council and Horse Racing Ireland among others, the Madden sisters were able to introduce it at Equitana, the world’s biggest equestrian trade fair.

“At Equitana, we established some key contacts and we got the opportunity to meet distributors from around the world," Ms Madden said. 

"On the first day, people were not taking us seriously because of our age but by the third day, they were lining up to talk to us about the product.”

Fenuhealth has since expanded to include nine different products and currently exports to 15 countries, counting five royal families amongst its customers.

As well as the €10,000 Student Entrepreneur of the Year prize fund, Ms Madden and her sister will now receive mentoring from Enterprise Ireland to further develop the commercial viability of their products.

South East Technological University, which is located in Waterford, also had a win at the awards with student Alannah Pardy nabbing the €5,000 Grant Thornton High Achieving Merit Award.

Ms Pardy was recognised for her work developing Recapture One, a cloud-based multimedia company specializing in the development of personalised bereavement memorials.

The winners will also share a €30,000 consultancy fund with other student entrepreneurs.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy, said: “Congratulations to all the participants in this year’s Student Entrepreneur Awards. 

"The calibre of the entries this year is a credit to the student entrepreneurs and their institutions."