This year Foróige’s Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) will bring two young entrepreneurs, Dylan Moloney & Thomas Curtin to the U.S to compete in the 2020 NFTE Alumni Entrepreneur Investor Forum which is being held at Pay Pal Headquarters in New York City at the end of March.
Dylan & Thomas took part in the NFTE programme in transition year at their school, Desmond College in Newcastle West Co. Limerick. During this time they founded Kone Kollectors and developed a product to assist in the collection of sports cones after match play and training. They went on to win the NFTE International Competition in 2018 where they received a global award on the International Stage in New York representing NFTE Ireland, they have now been selected to return to the U.S once again to represent Ireland and compete in the 2020 Alumni Investor Forum. The competition is open to NFTE graduates aged 18 to 35 years, who own a licensed business. The Alumni Investor Forum will provide networking opportunities as well as facilitated sessions to pitch your business for funding (including venture capital, individual funders, incubator programs, and low/no-interest bank loans).
In preparation for the competition Foróige along with ActionCOACH Business Coaching Ireland are providing support in the form of business mentoring and presentation skills. This week the two young entrepeneurs met with Kilkenny hurling midfielder Richie Hogan and Paul Fagan from ActionCOACH. They were lucky to get a rare opportunity to present their innovative product to Richie and Paul at GAA HQ Croke Park in Dublin.
They received some excellent advice from both and took away some new skills to work on before they make the trip to compete in the US at the end of March. Watch this space for more exciting updates on how Kone Kollectors fare stateside!
For more information about our Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) programme click here
