The 2020 EY Entrepreneur of the Year is Nicola Mitchell Founder of Life Scientific
Nicola Mitchell, the founder and CEO of Life Scientific has been named the overall winner of the prestigious 2020 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Ireland).
Established by Nicola Mitchell in 1995 the company specialises in the development and registration of off-patent agrochemicals and currently has a portfolio of more than 60 products available in EU agrochemical markets. The company, with an annual turnover of €60 million, currently employs a staff of over 80 people and recently located to its new headquarters in Belfield Office Park, adjacent to University College Dublin (UCD).
The company has strong links with the University and was headquartered at NovaUCD for many years before moving to NexusUCD. In 2009 Nicola Mitchell received the NovaUCD Innovation Award in recognition of the development of strong research and innovation links between Life Scientific and the University over a number of years.
Held virtually for the first time, the 2020 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards had a total of 24 finalists seeking to take home a number of Awards with more than 2,000 people watching. Collectively, the 24 finalists of this year’s programme employ more than 5,000 people and have revenues in excess of €400m.
In addition to the overall award Nicola Mitchell also won the international entrepreneur award category.
Nicola Mitchell is only the second woman to win the overall Entrepreneur of the Year Award. It was previously won in 2006 by CPL founder and CEO Anne Heraty, Chair of this year’s judging panel.
The judging panel also included winners from other years including; Michael Carey, Mark Roden, Evelyn O’Toole, Dr Edmond Harty, Joe Hogan, Jerry Kennelly, Brendan Mooney, Harry Hughes and Denis O’Brien. It also included Dr Jennifer Melia, Enterprise Ireland and Jeremy Fitch, Invest NI.
Anne Heraty said, “The standard of competition between this year’s finalists was incredibly high. It is brilliant to see so many home-grown entrepreneurs at the forefront of their industries, which is testament to the entrepreneurial spirit that’s so prevalent across the island.
“Each of the winners’ vision and innovation has been critical to the success of their respective businesses and we look forward to following their continuing success into the future.”
John O’Connell, co-founder of West Cork Distillers received the award for EY Industry Entrepreneur Of The Year. Founded in 2008, the company has a distillation capacity of 4 million litres of pure alcohol and is now sold in almost 70 countries.
Matt Cooper, co-founder of Inflazome received the award for EY Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year. Founded with Trinity College Dublin’s Professor Luke O’Neill, Inflazome is developing breakthrough medicines that stop harmful inflammation. The company currently has two new drugs in clinical trials: Inzomelid for neurodegenerative diseases in the brain and Somalix for inflammatory diseases in the rest of the body.
A special award was also presented to frontline workers of the HSE and An Garda Síochána which was accepted on their behalf by Paul Reid, CEO, HSE and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, for their efforts over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chaired by the 2006 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Anne Heraty, this year’s judging panel also included winners from other years including Michael Carey, Mark Roden, Evelyn O’Toole, Dr Edmond Harty, Joe Hogan, Jerry Kennelly, Brendan Mooney, Harry Hughes and Denis O’Brien. It also included Dr Jennifer Melia from Enterprise Ireland and Jeremy Fitch from Invest Northern Ireland.
Speaking of this year’s finalists, Anne Heraty said, “The standard of competition between this year’s finalists was incredibly high. It is brilliant to see so many home-grown entrepreneurs at the forefront of their industries, which is testament to the entrepreneurial spirit that’s so prevalent across the island.
“Each of the winners’ vision and innovation has been critical to the success of their respective businesses and we look forward to following their continuing success into the future.”
Now in its 23rd year, the programme has established itself as a world-class development programme that supports, promotes, and connects an extraordinary community of entrepreneurs, championing entrepreneurship throughout the island of Ireland and around the world.
Since its inception, the EY Entrepreneur of The Year community has grown to a tight-knit network of more than 525 alumni who harness each other’s wealth of experience, with 77% now doing business with one another.
Nicola Mitchell will now go on to represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards next year, where she will compete with more than 60 leading entrepreneurs from around the globe.
ENDS
13 November 2020
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, UCD Research and Innovation, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: + 353 1 716 3712.
Editors Notes
At NovaUCD, the hub for new ventures and entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, we nurture and support new high-tech companies as part of UCD's mission. At NovaUCD we provide purpose-built, state-of-the-art incubation facilities alongside a comprehensive business support programme for client companies. Since it was established in 2003 NovaUCD has supported over 385 start-ups and early-stage ventures, including companies such as Life Scientific. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx. www.novaucd.ie