GrassMax clinches Innovation Arena overall prize
Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney pictured with Leo Clancy, CEO, Enterprise Ireland; Anna May McHugh, managing director of the NPA; and GrassMax, who were named as the overall winner at this year's Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena Awards.
The world’s first temperate climate grassland management tool, GrassMax, has been named as the overall winner at this year’s Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena Awards.
The winners of the Innovation Arena competition, hosted by Enterprise Ireland in association with the National Ploughing Association, were announced at an awards ceremony attended by Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney at the opening day of the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co Laois.
The GrassMax App combines advanced modelling techniques with remote sensing data to provide a suite of easy-to-use bespoke nutrient and grass management decision-support tools, including satellite-based grassland growth yield measurement.
It aims to remove the need for farmers to routinely walk their grass paddocks, optimise soil fertility and deliver verified enhancements in crop performance and resource use efficiency.
Proveye won the best overall start-up award, Start-Up Innovator of the Year, and a €10,000 prize for its AI-powered digital image analysis platform. Its innovation uses remote sensing capability to deliver image-based insights on agricultural land, giving users the ability to make timely and informed decisions to solve a range of challenges, such as maximising yield and crop management planning.
Commenting on the winners, Minister Coveney said: “The Innovation Arena competition is a landmark exhibition platform and competition, as it brings together ambitious agri-innovators every year.
"Ireland is synonymous with agriculture, and it is our own entrepreneurs who are helping to shape the future of the sector globally.
"With the ongoing challenges and the need to develop and implement sustainable practices, the work of these Irish innovators has never been more vital.”
Enterprise Ireland chief executive Leo Clancy added: “Irish agri-tech companies continue to have an influential impact internationally with their cutting-edge products and services that are helping to bring greater efficiencies across agriculture.
“I would like to congratulate all the winners of this year’s Innovation Arena Awards for their achievements, and I would also like to thank all the participants and entrepreneurs who entered this year’s competition- these are the products and services which are shaping the future of this industry and are delivering real solutions.”
- Overall ‘Innovator of the Year’ - Established: GrassMax, Dublin;
- Start-up Innovator of the Year: Proveye, Dublin;
- Agri-Engineering Award: Malone Farm Machinery, Mayo;
- Smart Farming Award: Pearson Milking Technology, Kildare;
- Crop Technology Award: Beotanics, Kilkenny;
- Agri-Safety Award: M-TEC Engineering, Cavan;
- Young Innovator of the Year: TrojanTrack, Dublin;
- IFAC Best New-Comer: Livefarm, Carlow;
- Ace Agritech Centre of Excellence Award: Proveye, Dublin;
- On Farm Innovation (Alfred Cox Founder's Perpetual Trophy): SpreadPoint, Down;
- Research Emerging from 3rd Level Award: PolyBo, Westmeath Farm Software Award Herdwatch, Tipperary;
- AgTechUCD Start Up Award: Agri Data Analytics, Offaly;
- Farm Automation Award: Dairymaster, Kerry;
- AgriTech Award: Abbey Farm Machinery, Tipperary.
