As I mentioned in part 1, 2025 tested Irish businesses like never before, with the DEI sector being one of the hardest hit. Whether it’s multinational policy changes, budget cuts, tariffs, or inflation, any of these factors could have crushed even the savviest entrepreneurs.
So here is part 2 of my article on ’50 Irish Companies in DEI To Watch in 2026 Part 2′
Founder: Mark Fenton
Who Do They Advocate For: Unlocking Potential, Delivering Results for individuals, teams and organisations through the embrace of Diversity, the encouragement of Inclusion and the learning of Coaching.
Established in 2016 and working in both public and private sectors across Ireland, UK, Continental Europe and beyond, MASF Consulting Ltd (www.masf.ie) designs and delivers learning solution, stratgies and action plans that align with individual and corporate values and, where relevant, business strategies. Our tailored solutions utilise trademarked and proven methodologies that optimise the transfer of learning and equip organisations and the people within them with the knowledge, competencies and confidence to embrace Diversity and encourage Inclusion.
MASF provides workshops, panels & keynotes, strategic reviews and broad thought leadership that is sticky, meaningful and coherent. Through practical advice and scenario-based role playing, MASF enables individuals to enhance their own self-awareness on their communication styles and biased decision-making and supports leaders and their teams to create and sustain an effective, psychologically safe and inclusive working environment.
Founders: Corrina Grimes, Adolfo García, and Fernando Johann
Who Do The Advocate For: Dementia screening
MemoryTell pioneers AI-powered speech analysis for non-invasive dementia screening, diagnosis, and monitoring, using validated digital biomarkers from brief conversations to deliver rapid, objective insights outperforming traditional tests. Co-founded by Corrina Grimes (healthcare leader, Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health), Adolfo M. García (neuroscientist expert in speech biomarkers), and Fernando Johann (serial tech entrepreneur), the Belfast startup transitioned TELL technology—backed by 200+ peer-reviewed studies—from research to clinic, potentially slashing diagnostic time by 75% reducing the need of blood tests, lumbar punctures, or MRIs. Winner of Catalyst INVENT 2025 Overall (£25,000 prize) and BioBreakthroughs category after Innovate UK funding, MemoryTell integrates with GP and Memory clinic workflows for multilingual assessments at home or clinic, empowering patients/carers with early detection and clinicians with real-time reports tracking cognitive decline.
The team advocates for dignified, accessible dementia care replacing invasive diagnostics with equitable speech tech. Targeting delayed diagnoses affecting millions—especially in rural/low-resource settings—they prioritise speed, scalability, and clinician empowerment to transform brain health equity amid rising prevalence. Serving diverse populations, the platform scales globally while maintaining evidence-based precision.
Founder: Sonya Murphy-Lyons
Who Do They Advocate For: Accessible music education
Mezzo Music Academy delivers personalised music education in Dublin, offering lessons in guitar, piano, violin, cello, drums, bass, vocals and more for beginners to advanced students through small group and individual classes, emphasising enjoyment and steady progress. Founded in 2011 by Sonya Murphy-Lyons—a UCD Music graduate (BMus LTCL) with 20+ years teaching classical guitar—the Terenure-based academy expanded from her private lessons in Kimmage into a vibrant multi-instrument hub led by Sonya, Shóna and the admin team managing 30+ expert instructors, including Jon Sadlier (Piano & Guitar) and Rachel Croash (Voice). Holding many awards, including Google You’re the Business, Network Dublin Creative Businesswoman of the Year and All Star accreditation, Mezzo prioritises structured yet flexible learning in a welcoming environment that builds musical literacy, technique, and performance confidence for children, teens and adults seeking lifelong passion over exam pressure.
Sonya champions accessible music education, fostering joy, skill-building, and community for busy families and adult learners daunted by formal conservatories. Serving those needing supportive group settings where tailored progress replaces rigid benchmarks, she ensures every student discovers confidence through personalised musical journeys. Sonya featured on YouTube’s Business Block with Miriam O’Gara discussing growth from humble beginnings to purpose-built premises, and recently in the Sunday Independent interviewed by Gina London (piece entitled ‘The sweet sound of determination – lessons from Mezzo Music Academy’).
Founders: Stephen Cluskey and Noelle Daly
Who Do They Advocate For: People with mobility issues
Mobility Mojo is revolutionising workplace accessibility through its intuitive digital platform, enabling organisations to assess, track, improve, and certify built environments for people with disabilities. Founded in 2014 by Stephen Cluskey—who experienced firsthand the frustration of inaccessible workplaces as a wheelchair user since age 17—alongside Noelle Daly, the people with disability-owned business emerged from Cluskey’s personal mission to eliminate physical barriers he navigated daily. It replaces paper audits with standardised data collection across offices, retail, and manufacturing sites—serving global clients like Accenture, UBS, Eli Lilly, Bayer, Diageo, and Coca-Cola in 30+ countries. Supporting ESG, DE&I, and EU Accessibility Act compliance, its ISO 27001-certified solution delivers actionable insights, benchmarks, and AI-powered reporting to foster inclusive spaces reaching 1M+ employees and 1,500+ buildings.
Stephen has also spoken at various summits around the worl,d including at The Penulum Summit, where he was praised by Sir Richard Branson. Backed by €4.25M Series A funding from Gresham House Ventures (2025), Mobility Mojo earned Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Scale Partners recognition (2020-2022) and featured in ThinkBusiness for scaling amid regulatory pressures. Plans target 4,000 buildings and 2.5M employees by 2026 through global partnerships and enhanced AI tools. CEO Cluskey champions “Accessibility as a Business Priority,” proving measurable inclusion drives retention, trust, and ROI—positioning the SME as Ireland’s leader in scalable physical accessibility innovation.
Founder:
Irial Mac Murchú
The company operates bilingually through Irish and English, so provides employment to a minority section of society, (the 2022 census revealed that just 1.5% of the population speaks Irish daily)
Nemeton TV, a leading independent production company, was founded in An Rinn Gaeltacht, Co. Waterford by Irial Mac Murchú in 1993. Nemeton champions DEI through its leadership in Irish-language sports broadcasting and talent development from underrepresented communities. The SME produces 600+ hours annually of live GAA (GAA BEO) content, horse racing, boxing and more for Ireland’s national Irish language TV broadcaster TG4. The company also supplies technical uplink support to other broadcasters and event organisers including RTÉ, BBC, Sky Sports and ESPN. Partnering with South East Technological University on a Higher Diploma in TV and Media Production, Nemeton trains 10 diverse Gaeltacht/rural students yearly, prioritising “Súil Eile” (different perspective) storytelling. The award-winning course, developed by SETU and Nemeton TV in partnership with Udarás na Gaeltachta has been successfully preparing new media talent since 2006. This worthwhile initiative affords opportunities to emerging Irish-speaking creatives facing industry barriers.
Nemeton has won numerous awards, including:
The All Ireland Marketing Awards Best Business – Media (2013, 2016) and Sports Industry Awards Established Sports Business (2016). In 202,3 the company won a Gradaim RTS Ireland award for ‘Laochra Gael” which is one of Ireland’s longest-running sports series. This documentary programme, produced annually by Nemeton, shines a spotlight each year on a diverse range of sports athletes from all over Ireland. Students of the higher diploma course at Nemeton have also frequently been honoured at the annual Student Media Awards.
Nemeton advances linguistic equity, influencing policy for minority voices who are speaking daily through the Irish language. The company showcases Gaeltacht inclusion across Ireland, proving cultural diversity drives authentic representation.
Nexus Inclusion is a technology company harnessing generative AI to revolutionise digital accessibility. It was founded in 2024 by Kyran O’Mahoney who was born with 17% vision. A serial tech leader with senior roles at Ryanair, Dunnes Stores, AIB, and as CTO of Vision Ireland, Kyran launched the firm after spotting gaps in the tools and processes available to businesses thatNexus Inclusion’s tools simultaneously help businesses meet their legal compliance obligations across multiple markets while improving UX, usability and commercial results. They drive change and improvements through their 3 pillars of Detection, Analysis and Guidance. Their tools embed digital inclusion from ideation to maintenance, which empower website and business owners to achieve true inclusion amongst many communities, including visual and hearing impaired, those with cognitive disabilities, neurodivergence and those who want an improvement to their digital accessibility.
Founders: David Neville, Padraic Hogan, and Daniel Paul
Who Do They Advocate For: AI-powered formative assessment and feedback in education
Nurture revolutionises teacher workflows through AI-powered formative assessment and feedback, saving educators 3+ hours weekly while delivering personalised student insights that boost outcomes. Founded in 2021 by Limerick natives David Neville, Padraic Hogan, and Dublin’s Daniel Paul—evolving their jumpAgrade social enterprise—the edtech now serves 1,100+ Northern Ireland schools via Education Authority rollout and world-leading institutions like GEMS Founders Dubai. The platform slashes marking/feedback time by 56%, tracks student confidence against grades to spot knowledge gaps, and captures private reflections beyond classroom pressures—delivering 1,673 personalised feedbacks efficiently without added workload. €1.3m seed funded by angels like Ray Downes and NDRC accelerator graduate, Nurture empowers teachers nationwide while scaling internationally to address chronic feedback bottlenecks.
The team champions educational equity, dismantling Ireland’s grinds culture barrier for disadvantaged students through accessible, quality feedback. Targeting teacher burnout and underrepresented learners, they redirect time savings into personalised interventions that level the playing field and elevate outcomes for every child. Winner of 2022 International e-Assessment Awards for Best Formative Assessment Project, with coverage in the Irish Examiner on Northern Ireland’s statewide adoption and partnerships, including Microsoft and Google.
Olive For Education, part of the global Olive Group, delivers Ireland’s fastest-growing edtech solutions including secure device deployment, Microsoft 365 integration, AI classroom tools, and 1:1 student laptop programmes for post-primary schools. Led by Ian Gaughran (CEO) under Olive Group founder Brendan Kavanagh, the Dublin/Kilkenny/Galway-based team brings 40+ years combined expertise to future-proof digital transformation amid €65m government investment and Windows 10 end-of-support. Serving schools like Stepaside Educate Together (full-year 1:1 rollout), Olive configures devices day-one ready, enables Teams collaboration/assignment submission, and provides customer-obsessed support representing educators to partners Microsoft/Dell.
The team advocates for equitable digital learning access, making advanced edtech straightforward, secure, and reliable for every Irish school. Targeting resource-stretched educators overwhelmed by tech complexity, they eliminate setup/support barriers so teachers focus on teaching while students gain 21st-century skills. Winner of Digital Excellence Award at Kilkenny Chamber Business Awards 2025, with blogs guiding funding maximisation and compliance while positioning Olive as Ireland’s leading edtech bridge between innovation and classroom reality.
Founder: Jeanne McDonagh
Who Do They Advocate For: Underrepresented groups in Employability
The Open Doors Initiative creates pathways to employment, education, and entrepreneurship for Ireland’s most underrepresented people — refugees, asylum seekers, Travellers, Roma, disabled people, disadvantaged youth, people with a criminal past, and LGBTIQ+ individuals facing systemic barriers even during full employment. Founded in 2018 by Jeanne McDonagh (CEO)—inspired by Diageo’s Learning for Life direct provision programme—alongside 14 founding corporate partners including Bank of Ireland (former chair Francesca McDonagh), ESB (current chair Paddy Hayes), Diageo, Accenture, and AIB, the social enterprise scaled to 130+ member organisations supporting 130,000+ people with its partners: with more than 6,895 jobs, 682 long-term internships, 213 businesses started. Government-backed, Pathways to Progress delivers participant training across Ireland while Employers for Change and Towards Work advance disability inclusion agendas nationwide.
The team champions equitable employability, eliminating inequality through corporate social justice
. Via programmes like Pathways to Progress (employability training), Employers for Change and Towards Work (disability employment), skills training and mentorships, Open Doors targets intersectional barriers, ensuring diverse talent thrives. Awards include Irish Enterprise Awards ‘Best New Employment Services Social Enterprise 2022’, Diversity in Tech Impact Award 2022, Dublin City Social Enterprise Award 2020; Jeanne named IMAGE Business Woman of the Year DEI winner in 2025, top 100 Women in Social Enterprise 2021, with coverage in Travellers Voice, IMAGE, Talent Summit, HR Room Podcast and national media.
PayGap.ie serves as Ireland’s award-winning independent platform centralising gender pay gap reports from companies with 50+ employees, standardising inconsistent data formats into accessible comparisons exposing pay disparities, bonus gaps, and leadership imbalances. Founded by Jennifer Keane—a NUI Maynooth/Open University graduate with 20 years in tech as an engineer turned product manager—the site fills the void left by absent government portals, manually archiving/transcribing reports since 2021 amid patchy compliance. Jennifer’s research reveals unsurprising tech/finance gaps alongside shocking bonus disparities, fuelling accountability despite diversity photo-ops. PublicPolicy.ie contributor, Keane spotlights how missing intersectional data obscures wider inequities.
Jennifer advocates for greater transparency in gender pay gap reporting, empowering employees with data to make informed career choices. Targeting opaque corporate practices hiding inequality, she demands standardised formats, enforcement, and richer metrics revealing ethnicity/parenthood impacts on true equity. PayGap.ie won the 2025 Analytics Institute Social Impact Award, with Jennifer featured on Newstalk, RTÉ Radio 1’s The Business, PhoenixFM, Irish Examiner, and Women on Air.
Founders: Tracy Gunn and Michelle O’Keeffe
Who Do They Advocate For: Parents in Business
Platform 55 equips businesses with workshops, coaching, webinars, and digital resources supporting working parents, managers, HR teams, and employees through life transitions like parenthood, burnout, and family challenges. Co-founded in 2021 by Tracy Gunn and Michelle O’Keeffe—senior leaders experiencing motherhood penalty pressures firsthand—the Dublin startup addresses the 80% gender pay gap link to family-unfriendly workplaces, delivering 9.2/10 NPS across 2000+ users. Serving Ornua, AXA, Mediahuis, National Lottery, RSA Ireland, and Kerry, Platform55 boosts retention/productivity—25% rise when supported—through manager training on modern family topics, scalable tools closing inclusion gaps, and calculators revealing unprepared leadership. Winners of The Pitch 2024 (€100k Samsung tech/IMAGE media/mentoring prize), they focus on building supportive workplace cultures nationwide.
Tracy and Michelle advocate for family-friendly workplaces, eliminating the motherhood penalty through practical support.
Targeting companies losing talent to work-life imbalance, they empower managers with conversations/tools ensuring parents thrive, driving gender equity, engagement, and measurable business performance. Featured in IMAGE magazine as The Pitch 2024 champions, Focus on Diversity interview, and Instagram reels celebrating their victory before judges like Clodagh Edwards and Jamie Heaslip, Platform55 gained widespread recognition for timely DEI innovation.
Founders: Heidi Davis and Donal O’Gorman
Who Do They Advocate For: Women going through perimenopause
Peri delivers a wearable device with AI-powered symptom tracking for perimenopause, passively monitoring hot flashes, night sweats, anxiety, sleep disturbances, menstrual cycles, diet, and activity to provide personalised insights reducing risks of Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Founded in 2022 by Heidi Davis (CEO)—nutrition and molecular medicine expert—and Donal O’Gorman—physiologist with 85+ publications—the Irish femtech startup addresses the “data gap” affecting 440 million women worldwide. Earning Heidi Enterprise Ireland HPSU Founder of the Year 2024 and CES 2025 Innovation Awards Honoree status, Peri—with €1.4m raised—synthesises lifestyle data into weekly/monthly guidance optimising long-term health at this pivotal life stage, now available for pre-order ahead of spring 2026 launch.
The team advocates for equitable women’s health through objective perimenopause data, replacing fragmented tracking. Targeting underserved midlife women facing invisible symptoms and chronic disease inflexion points, they empower confident navigation via personalised strategies, transforming challenges into preventive health opportunities. Featured in Trendwatching, Wearable Technologies, Oprah Daily, NewBeauty, MedTech Pulse, and PR Newswire for CES recognition and torso-worn biosensor innovation outperforming wrist trackers.
Founders: Sarah Dieck McGuire and Sarah Lumsden Watchorn
Who Do They Advocate For: Dyslexia empowerment in children
The Reading Academy delivers specialised Orton-Gillingham-based reading instruction for children with dyslexia through online classes, after-school centres across Ireland, teacher training certification, parent membership resources, downloadable flashcards, games, exercises, and quizzes, building phonics fluency from foundational skills. Co-founded by Sarah Dieck McGuire and Sarah Lumsden Watchorn—dyslexia specialists with 45+ years combined experience from operating a Dublin special reading school—the Mayo/Wicklow-based edtech addresses chronic shortages of trained teachers and structured literacy materials via multisensory programmes proven to transform struggling readers into confident learners. Certified tutors deliver weekly sessions online or in classroom settings while parent tools reinforce home practice, ensuring consistent progress beyond traditional interventions that fail 80% of dyslexic children.
The two Sarah’s champion universal reading proficiency, eliminating dyslexia as an insurmountable barrier.
Targeting children with eroded confidence from repeated reading failures, they empower parents and educators with accessible, evidence-based interventions guaranteeing mastery through systematic phonics instruction and scalable online delivery reaching families nationwide. MyWordPal software won Spark Crowdfunding Ireland Health & Education category, plus Overall Winner, and was featured in ThinkBusiness and local press in Greytones.
Founders: Graham Clifford and Clare Keogh
Who Do They Advocate For: Migrants to Ireland
Sanctuary Runners is an award-winning Irish solidarity-through-sport charity empowering asylum seekers, refugees, migrants, and local communities through inclusive running, jogging, and walking groups. Founded in Cork in 2018 by Graham Clifford and Clare Keogh, the non-profit has grown to over 50 groups nationwide—from Dublin’s Fairview Park to Sligo and Waterford—plus international expansion to London. Backed by Olympians like Olive Loughnane, Thomas Barr, and Sonia O’Sullivan, it fosters integration, mental health, and friendships without membership fees, providing free blue tops to participants from 40+ nationalities. The initiative counters isolation in Direct Provision centres, with 1,200+ regular runners participating in events like the Cork City Marathon, proving that sport bridges divides.
Named a multi-award-winning movement and featured on Dublin.ie, Athletics Ireland, and RTÉ, Sanctuary Runners earned acclaim for its 2025 “12ks of Christmas” campaign and Global Solidarity Run across 75 countries, supported by Irish Aid. The charity’s impact study highlights reduced loneliness and enhanced community cohesion, aligning with DEI goals amid migration debates. By prioritising “friendliest, not fastest,” it champions equality—expanding to villages near migrant communities while hosting parkruns and sea swims, demonstrating scalable grassroots inclusion across Leinster and beyond.
Founder: Samantha Kelly
Who Do They Advocate For: Empowering Small businesses online
Samantha Kelly Media specialises in executive personal branding, LinkedIn Live training, and online visibility coaching, helping business leaders build an authentic digital presence and a trusted industry authority. Founded and led by Samantha Kelly, aka TweetingGoddess, with 71K+ Twitter followers, the Wexford-based entrepreneur transformed her 2011 social media expertise into a consultancy serving SMEs and executives through TEDx speaking, #IrishBizParty, Social Media Fest events, and authentic content strategies. She was previously featured on Dragons’ Den Ireland, BBC Woman’s Hour, and Theo Paphitis #SBS winner, Samantha, positions clients as thought leaders via community-building.
Samantha advocates for SMEs mastering authentic social media marketing despite time/cash constraints.
Targeting entrepreneurs intimidated by digital platforms, she created accessible Twitter communities and practical training, ensuring small businesses compete with corporates through genuine connections and consistent personal branding. Awards include Irish Internet Association Social Media Award 2017, Wexford Business Awards 2017, Bank of Ireland Startup Hero Award 2014 for #IrishBizParty, Network Ireland Emerging Business finalist, with coverage in Irish Tech News, Business & Finance, Farmers Journal, and Dublin Gazette.
Founders: Tadhg Mac Mahon and Alyssa Filardo
Who Do They Advocate For: The LGBTQ+ community
The Shane Collective is a pioneering digital platform and mobile app designed specifically for the LGBTQ+ community. Founded in 2023 by Irish entrepreneurs Tadhg Mac Mahon and Alyssa Filardo, the queer-owned venture bridges vital gaps in safe navigation, discovery, and social connection. Drawing on lived experience within Ireland’s evolving inclusivity landscape, the founders developed an ecosystem driven by community recommendations, smart mapping for verified safe venues, and real-time safety alerts. Supported by the Local Enterprise Office, the platform has rapidly gained traction across Leinster, empowering thousands of users to explore nightlife, travel, and social spaces with confidence while reinforcing equality and inclusivity in consumer technology.
A finalist in the 2025 Irish Digital Start-up Awards and featured in The Irish Times and Silicon Republic, The Shane Collective has earned recognition for innovation in safety tech and DEI leadership.
Its features—including live venue ratings, event discovery feeds, and emergency resources—actively counter discrimination and support intersectional needs across neurodiverse and LGBTQ+ experiences. Through partnerships with the National LGBT Federation and Irish advocacy groups, the company advances inclusion in education and workplaces. Independent surveys reveal 40% of users report safer social experiences, highlighting the app’s tangible social impact and growing cultural relevance.
The Shona Project is an Irish charity working to support teenage girls to grow up with confidence, self-belief and a strong sense of who they are.
Founded in 2016 by Tammy Darcy, The Shona Project was created to respond to the real, lived pressures facing girls today. From comparison culture and perfectionism to confidence, identity and belonging. Its work is rooted in listening to young people and creating spaces where honesty is welcomed and vulnerability is not treated as weakness.
Shona delivers evidence-informed wellbeing and leadership programmes through schools, communities and events across Ireland. This includes nationwide workshops, mentorship programmes, digital resources and publications, all designed to help girls build resilience, critical thinking and self-trust at a formative stage of life. Each year, its programmes reach tens of thousands of young people, educators and families.
Recognised as a leader in youth empowerment and prevention-focused education, The Shona Project has received multiple national awards and sector recognition for its impact and innovation. While expanding to include work with boys, its core mission remains unchanged. To support girls early, thoughtfully and at scale, so they grow into adults who feel capable, connected and confident using their voices.
SocialTies is a groundbreaking Irish digital platform providing clubs, schools, residents’ associations, and charities with their own personalised social networks. Co-founded in 2025 by Kilkenny’s Walter Walsh—former three time All-Ireland hurling champion, teacher, and dairy farmer—and Dublin entrepreneur Brendan Kavanagh, the platform replaces fragmented tools like WhatsApp groups and outdated websites with one unified, safe, and branded environment. Offering tailored content, event updates, ticketing, and live sports results, SocialTies empowers communities to manage communication and engagement seamlessly.
Central to its model is “Community Shared Advertising,” the world’s first revenue-sharing system where 50% of advertising proceeds are reinvested directly into local groups, ensuring both sustainable funding and measurable ROI for participating businesses.
Recognised as one of Ireland’s most promising social innovation start-ups by the Irish Independent and shortlisted for the 2025 National Start-Up Awards, SocialTies has been praised for reinvigorating local engagement through purpose-driven technology. Its early success, including pilot implementations like Kilkenny GAA’s “Kilkenny Cats Social,” demonstrates tangible impact in connecting members and reducing administrative strain. With expanding adoption across Leinster, SocialTies exemplifies digital transformation rooted in Irish community values—pioneering a model of local empowerment through tech-enabled collaboration, inclusivity, and ownership.
Founders: Emma Doherty and Patrick Grace
Who Do They Advocate For: Children with dyslexia or who struggle to read
Spellings for Me is an award-winning Irish edtech platform delivering AI-powered personalised spelling programmes for children aged 7–12. Co-founded in 2019 by primary teachers Emma Doherty, a learning support specialist, and Patrick Grace, the Tipperary-based company is transforming literacy development through adaptive technology. Spellings for Me replaces traditional one-size-fits-all workbooks with a responsive system that tailors each pupil’s learning pathway—automatically removing mastered words while revisiting challenges. Supporting Ireland’s Primary Language Curriculum and international KS2/3 standards, it serves over 100,000 pupils across 25 countries, including EAL learners in the UAE, China, and Europe. The platform integrates self-correcting tests, morphology and etymology tools, gamified learning, printable resources, and teacher-led video lessons, complemented by school workbooks and a 60-day trial for educators.
Recognised with the 2024 National Startup Award for EdTech Innovation and featured in The Irish Times and Education Matters, Spellings for Me has earned praise for improving literacy outcomes and promoting differentiated instruction. Emma and Patrick champion inclusive education by addressing both struggling learners and high achievers, fostering spelling confidence through mastery-based progress, real-world writing integration, and early detection of dyslexia patterns.
Founders: Thomas Barry, Finbar Barry and Shane Barry
Who Do They Advocate For: People with Down Syndrome
Thomp2 Socks is a vibrant Irish brand specialising in colourful, quirky socks and creative subscription services, launched in 2019 to celebrate individuality, inclusion, and joy. Founded by Thomas Barry—a 34-year-old entrepreneur with Down Syndrome—alongside his late father Finbar Barry and nephew Shane Barry, the business transforms Thomas’s lifelong passion for socks into a growing international success story. From fun designs featuring avocados, flamingos, pizzas, and dogs to personalised “sockscription” boxes, Thomp2 has expanded from a small family venture into a global enterprise supplying retail, online, and corporate clients. The company has been featured on RTÉ News, Virgin Media, and The Irish Examiner, winning the 2024 Social Enterprise of the Year at the Irish SME Awards for its commitment to inclusive entrepreneurship.
Beyond its bold designs, Thomp2 Socks champions disability advocacy and meaningful employment for people with Down Syndrome across Leinster. The business reinvests profits into St John of God services and Down Syndrome Ireland, while limited-edition collections like “It’s Okay Not to Be Okay” support Pieta House’s mental health initiatives. Through purpose-driven design, community partnerships, and DEI-focused messaging,
Founders: Therese Coveney, Cathy Smith, Laura O’Neill and Edel Lynch
Who Do They Advocate For: People with Down Syndrome
The Together Academy is an inspiring Irish social enterprise empowering young adults aged 21–30 with Down Syndrome through accredited culinary training, professional kitchen certification, and sustainable employment. Founded in Dublin by Therese Coveney alongside co-founders Cathy Smith, Laura O’Neill, and Edel Lynch—in partnership with the Down Syndrome Centre—it operates vibrant social enterprise cafés at Wanderers Rugby Club, Happy Out Dún Laoghaire, and the new SMBC Aviation Capital facility. These initiatives challenge Ireland’s stark 90% unemployment rate for adults with Down Syndrome by delivering vocational programmes that blend hands-on hospitality skills, education, and corporate diversity training, fostering capability and inclusive workplaces.
Shortlisted for the 2025 Fit Out Awards in the hospitality category and named an inaugural Social Entrepreneur winner at the Women of the Year Awards for Therese Coveney’s prejudice-breaking activism, The Together Academy has gained acclaim via RTÉ Nationwide features and Social Entrepreneurs Ireland recognition.
URHired is a mission-led company focused on closing the employment gap for neurodiverse talent by fixing the interview process, where many capable candidates are unintentionally excluded. We work with both employers and jobseekers to create fairer, more accessible pathways into meaningful work. Talent Spectrum is URHired’s inclusive e-learning interview training platform for employers. It equips hiring managers and interview panels to run structured, evidence-based interviews, reduce unconscious bias, and better understand neurodiversity in the workplace. Built to integrate seamlessly into existing hiring processes, Talent Spectrum helps organisations hire more fairly without adding complexity.
It is designed in line with the European Accessibility Act 2025, supporting compliance while strengthening employer brand and access to untapped talent. A key feature of Talent Spectrum is its AI interview practice agent, which conducts realistic mock interviews with hiring managers. This allows interviewers to apply what they’ve learned, receiving feedback on clarity, structure, and inclusivity – helping to translate training into real behaviour change.
Alongside Talent Spectrum, URHired also provides a dedicated platform for neurodiverse jobseekers, supporting them from application through to interview and into the workplace. This platform offers tailored learning, practical interview preparation, and AI-supported mock interviews to build confidence and help candidates communicate their strengths effectively. We are currently working with a number of US universities to support neurodiverse students in their transition from education into employment.
URHired is a proud Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers graduate, Phase 1,2 & 3, Startup Awards 2025 finalist, recognised in The Irish Times Innovators to Watch and The Business Post Hot 100 Startups 2025.
Vially is a pioneering Dublin-based platform automating WCAG 2.1/2.2 compliance for websites and apps through continuous monitoring, user-centric audits with assistive technologies like screen readers, code snippets, screenshots, accessibility statements, and certifications—ensuring adherence to the EU Accessibility Act (EAA), ADA, and Irish public sector standards. Formerly Inclusion and Accessibility Labs (IA Labs), this Vision Ireland spin-out supports design, development, and maintenance phases for clients including Dublin Bus and Three Ireland, blending AI-powered automation with expert remediation, training, and paid internships for disabled professionals to build Ireland’s accessibility workforce.
Led by CEO Billy Hann, Chief Revenue Officer Andrew Power, and co-founders Neil Richins, Chris White, Gary Talbot, and Givi Topchishvili, Vially champions digital inclusion amid EAA deadlines. They’ve been highlighted in client success stories like Dublin Bus’s Digital Business Ireland Award for accessibility excellence (2024)—achieved through Vially’s partnership—the platform proves accessibility enhances UX, reputation, and ESG outcomes while creating employment pathways for disabled talent nationwide. By eliminating barriers for screen reader users, Vially transforms compliance into a competitive advantage for Ireland’s SMEs.
What’s the Scór is a Galway-based sports technology start-up founded in 2019 by Paul Flaherty, delivering a live score app tailored for Gaelic games with real-time updates on fixtures, results, and match data for clubs, counties, schools, and colleges. Designed as a one-stop solution for GAA fans and officials, the user-friendly platform streamlines match-day communications, centralising information that’s often fragmented in rural areas with limited coverage. Backed by seed funding from the Hartnett Enterprise Acceleration Centre in 2019 and a successful equity crowdfunding round via Spark Crowdfunding in 2022, What’s the Scór has gained strong traction across Ireland’s grassroots GAA community, modernising how local games are shared and followed.
Featured in The Connacht Tribune and shortlisted for the 2024 Irish Tech Innovation Awards in Sports, the app’s intuitive interface and reliable data delivery have earned praise from PROs and fans alike.
CEO Paul Flaherty champions community-driven sports tech, positioning What’s the Scór for expansion beyond GAA into broader Irish sports through strategic partnerships and enhanced features. As digital fan engagement grows, the platform exemplifies SME innovation in Leinster and Connacht, fostering deeper connections in Ireland’s vibrant sports culture while scaling sustainable revenue models