Following on from the great reaction I got from Part 1 of this article. Here is the intro for part 2. Ireland’s most recent census tells us that Ireland’s inclusion picture is increasingly diverse and inclusive. Census 2022 data shows us that 1,109,557 people, or 22% of the population, have a long-lasting condition or disability to some extent. 8% experienced disability to a great extent or a lot, while Ireland’s disability employment rate of 49.3% compares with 70.8% for people without disabilities, leaving a 37.0% employment gap. For LGBTQ+ people, the best-supported Irish data shows 38% experienced discrimination in at least one area of life in the previous year, 59% often or always avoided holding hands with a same-sex partner, and 37% reported harassment.0%, Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi at 2%, and Black or Black Irish at 1%; and Irish Travellers make up up 6% of the overall population.
However, the market can be slow to respond to Ireland’s changing landscape. Whether it’s dolls that represent different people within the Irish population, products that empower people with disabilities, the LGBT community or female empowerment, here are just some of Ireland’s best products in DEI:
If you would prefer to view the information in a video format, please see here:
Founders: Izzy Keane and Ailbhe Keane (2016)
Main Product: Designer, high-fashion spoke guards and artistic wheelchair wheel covers
Izzy Wheels is an internationally recognised Irish design brand creating colourful designer wheel covers that transform wheelchairs into expressions of personality, creativity and style. The company was founded by sisters Izzy and Ailbhe Keane after Ailbhe, then a design student at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), created a custom range of wheel covers for Izzy, who was born with spina bifida and has used a wheelchair all her life. Together, they set out to challenge perceptions of disability through design with their motto, “If you can’t stand up, stand out.”
Every pair of Izzy Wheels is handmade to order in Ireland and features vibrant artwork created in collaboration with internationally renowned artists, illustrators and global brands, including Disney, Barbie, Marvel, Hello Kitty and many more. By combining fashion, art and assistive technology, the company is helping wheelchair users celebrate their individuality while redefining how mobility aids are seen.
Today, Izzy Wheels has customers in more than 60 countries and has been featured by global media including Forbes, the BBC, Vogue, Good Morning America and Oprah.
Through its commitment to inclusive design, the company continues to demonstrate how thoughtful, user-centred innovation can improve representation, challenge stereotypes and bring more joy, confidence and self-expression to everyday life.
Founders: Rob and April Mullen
Main Product: Specialised adaptive footwear for people with disabilities.
Based in Cobh, County Cork, Keeks is a family-run adaptive retail brand founded in 2021 by Rob and April Mullen. The couple established the business after years of struggling to find functional, stylish footwear for their son, Kian, who was born with FOXG1 syndrome, a rare genetic condition causing complex physical and mobility challenges. After successfully sourcing specialised adaptive footwear for their son, the Mullens became an approved Irish partner for global adaptive brands, launching Keeks to eliminate the high import costs and return barriers that Irish families faced when ordering inclusive products from overseas.
The brand has significantly expanded the product options available to the Irish disability community by launching curated collections of footwear and adaptive apparel for both children and adults. Keeks specialises in universally designed shoes featuring patented, wrap-around zipper closure systems that allow the entire upper section of the shoe to open completely. This unique engineering enables easy, independent step-in access for individuals dealing with arthritis, stroke recovery, low finger dexterity, or those who wear complex lower limb orthotics. By bridging the gap between medical necessity and mainstream street style, Keeks ensures that practical mobility solutions never require a compromise on fashion or personal dignity.
LetsGetChecked is a patient-first healthcare company built on a straightforward mission: remove the barriers that prevent people from understanding and managing their own health. Its core product is a range of at-home test kits covering everything from sexual health, hormones, and fertility to cholesterol, thyroid function, and cancer screening. Customers collect their own sample at home, send it back via free shipping, and receive certified results within two to five days, all processed through the company’s own CLIA-certified laboratory. With over ten million kits used to date, LetsGetChecked has built a reputation for making private, accurate health testing accessible to anyone, anywhere.
Beyond individual consumers, LetsGetChecked has grown into a full-scale healthcare platform serving more than 5,000 organisations, including major employers, health plans, and public sector bodies. The platform now integrates telehealth consultations and pharmacy services alongside its testing offering, creating an end-to-end care experience from initial screening through to treatment and follow-up. Now operating as part of Fuze Health, the company continues to expand its enterprise solutions across areas including cancer screening, women’s health, infectious disease, and men’s health, to help more people access proactive, preventive care on their own terms.
Founders: Ian Harkin and Lucie Follett
Main Product: Age-appropriate, anatomically realistic, and diversity-focused childhood dolls
Lottie Dolls is an award-winning international toy enterprise headquartered in Letterkenny, County Donegal, under its parent company, Arklu Ltd. The brand was established following intensive research alongside child psychologists and nutritionists to address a problematic standard in the global toy industry. Recognising that mainstream fashion dolls frequently promoted hyper-sexualised imagery and unrealistic body proportions, the founders engineered a wholesome, child-centric alternative. The brand operates on the core philosophy that childhood should be a safe, imaginative space, modelling its products on the realistic body dimensions and active lifestyle of an average nine-year-old child.
Unlike traditional dolls, Lottie Dolls do not wear makeup or high heels, and they stand independently on flat feet to encourage adventurous play. The product framework heavily promotes STEM fields for girls through specialised figures like “Stargazer Lottie”, developed with the European Space Agency, while championing inclusive representation with dolls that mirror autism, ADHD, and cochlear implants. Operating its global logistics and design hub from Donegal, Arklu has scaled into a massive export success story, distributing toys to over 30 countries and winning 35 international awards by reframing childhood playtime.
Founder: Petrina O’Halloran
Main Product: A curated gift box filled with practical breastfeeding essentials, marketed as Ireland’s first of its kind.
Mama’s Boobie Box was founded by Petrina O’Halloran in 2021 in Co. Clare, born from her own difficult start with breastfeeding after the birth of her first daughter in 2018. Having received plenty of baby gifts but nothing aimed at supporting her own postpartum journey, she identified a gap in the market and, after moving back to Ireland in 2020, turned a personal idea into a business: a curated gift box filled with practical breastfeeding essentials, marketed as Ireland’s first of its kind.
The company has since grown well beyond its original gift box, expanding in 2023 into manufacturing its own range, including a nursing cover, breastfeeding journal, and an award-winning breastfeeding vest, alongside continued wholesale and gift box offerings. Products are now stocked in retailers across Ireland, the UK, Australia, and Switzerland, with exports making up the majority of sales. Beyond products, Petrina has built a strong advocacy presence, contributing regularly to Clare FM, breastfeeding publications, and her own blog, and in 2025 she launched a one-to-one breastfeeding coaching service for new and expectant mothers. The business has picked up several industry award nominations and wins since launch, reflecting its growth from a single mother-led idea into a recognised, internationally distributed Irish brand within the breastfeeding support space.
Founders: Corrina Grimes, Adolfo García, Fernando Johann
Main Product: Developing a speech and language-based digital platform for dementia screening, diagnosis, and monitoring
MemoryTell is a clinically focused healthtech company founded by Corrina Grimes, an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, in collaboration with cognitive neuroscientist Adolfo García and materials science engineer Fernando Johann. The company is developing a speech and language-based digital platform for dementia screening, diagnosis, and monitoring. Built on the TELL (Toolkit to Examine Life-Like Language) technology, extensively validated in research settings, the platform works by recording a patient in brief conversation and speech tasks, then using AI to analyse speech patterns and linguistic features against a large validated database. Results are delivered rapidly to clinicians, offering objective, evidence-based diagnostic support that can be carried out in a clinic or at home.
What makes MemoryTell particularly compelling is its potential to simplify and humanise the dementia diagnostic pathway. Traditional assessment often involves blood tests, lumbar punctures, or MRI scans, but MemoryTell’s non-invasive approach aims to match or exceed the accuracy of those standard methods while being far less burdensome for patients. The platform also supports multilingual populations and ongoing cognitive monitoring over time. Rooted in the philanthropic legacy of Atlantic Philanthropies founder Chuck Feeney, and catalysed by the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College Dublin and UCSF, MemoryTell is committed to turning cutting-edge neuroscience into practical, accessible tools for patients, carers, and clinicians.
Founders: Stephen Cluskey and Noelle Daly
Main Product: a data-driven SaaS platform that helps organisations assess, improve, manage, and certify the physical accessibility of their built environments, from single sites to large global property portfolios
Mobility Mojo is a Dublin-based accessibility technology company co-founded by Stephen Cluskey and Noelle Daly, with a mission to make inclusive environments the standard rather than the exception. Its core product is a data-driven SaaS platform that helps organisations assess, improve, manage, and certify the physical accessibility of their built environments, from single sites to large global property portfolios. The platform guides businesses through accessibility audits, provides clear ratings and benchmarking, and delivers actionable improvement roadmaps so organisations can move efficiently from assessment to real-world change. It is tailored to a wide range of sectors, including workplaces, manufacturing facilities, retail, banking, and accommodation.
What distinguishes Mobility Mojo is its positioning of accessibility not just as a compliance obligation but as a genuine business advantage, citing research linking inclusive environments to reduced staff turnover, stronger shareholder returns, and greater annual revenue. Trusted by major global organisations including Accenture, Coca-Cola, HubSpot, Bayer, and Eli Lilly, the company has built a strong enterprise client base across Europe and beyond. Certified as a disability-owned business and the recipient of numerous awards, including the Zero Project Award and WSA Winner 2021, Mobility Mojo brings both credibility and personal conviction to its work, treating accessibility as a matter of dignity, independence, and belonging for everyone.
Founder: Ronan O’Brien
Main Product: Mobility equipment, daily living aids, independent living tools, and healthcare rentals
The Mobility Shop (themobilityshop.ie) is a prominent Irish online specialist and equipment provider engineered to facilitate ease, safety, and independence of movement for the elderly, disabled individuals, and those recovering from injury. Operating out of its central logistics and distribution hub in Portlaoise, County Laois, the company addresses a vital need in the healthcare and domestic care sectors by supplying a comprehensive ecosystem of physical assistive tools. The core mission of the enterprise centres on breaking down the daily physical barriers faced by individuals with limited mobility, transforming routine household tasks from frustrating challenges into manageable, autonomous activities.
The business features an extensive direct-to-consumer e-commerce framework alongside a dedicated commercial rental service, supplying individuals, hotels, and event organisers across Ireland with essential adaptive equipment like wheelchairs, rollators, mobility scooters, and portable suitcase ramps. Beyond heavy transit machinery, the firm specialises in an expansive catalogue of specialised daily living aids designed for structural home modification and personalised rehabilitation.
These include orthopaedic cushions, grab rails, ergonomic crutches, and adaptive kitchen wellness products, such as specialised arthritis tilt-and-pour kettles. By providing reliable, rapid access to affordable healthcare services, this homegrown enterprise plays a critical role in supporting community-based independent living and professional occupational therapy workflows nationwide.
MyComfort is a wellness brand founded by Catherine Hearns, built around a simple but deeply personal mission: to bring non-medicated relief to people living with migraines and similar conditions. The flagship product is the MyComfort Multiway Eye Mask, a patent-pending, European design-registered sleep mask that doubles as a therapeutic tool. Used in combination with an interchangeable cool and calming insert or an aromatherapy insert, the mask delivers targeted relief from pain and inflammation without medication. The mask is Irish-designed, European-made, and crafted from ECONYL regenerated yarn, a sustainable material produced from pre and post-consumer waste, reflecting a strong commitment to eco-innovation alongside wellbeing.
What makes MyComfort stand out is the thoughtfulness baked into its design. The total blackout fit, premium soft fabric, and carefully engineered pressure distribution make it equally suited to deep sleep, long-haul travel, or midday rest, while the interchangeable insert system means it adapts to whatever the wearer needs in the moment. Customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with users describing it as a genuine alternative to awkward gel packs and ice masks after years of searching for something better. With a growing community of loyal customers, media coverage, and a bespoke personalisation service.
Founders: Corrina Grimes, Adolfo M. García, and Fernando Johann
Main Product: AI-powered speech analysis platform for early and non-invasive dementia screening
MemoryTell is an innovative healthtech startup engineered to transform global dementia diagnostics through non-invasive, speech-based digital biomarkers. Conceived at the Global Brain Health Institute, a joint initiative between Trinity College Dublin and the University of California, San Francisco, the company was co-founded by Atlantic Fellows Corrina Grimes and Adolfo M. García alongside Fernando Johann. The platform addresses a critical bottleneck in healthcare infrastructure, where traditional dementia pathways often rely on lengthy timelines, expensive neuroimaging, or invasive procedures like spinal punctures. By utilising an advanced web-based toolkit to examine life-like language, the system evaluates how neurodegeneration subtly alters a person’s linguistic and acoustic patterns during short, guided conversational tasks.
The primary technological asset of the enterprise is its secure, clinically grounded AI engine backed by over 200 peer-reviewed publications and continuous multi-site validations. When a patient completes a brief recording, the algorithms analyse acoustic and cognitive features against a comprehensive, validated database to deliver an objective diagnostic report to clinicians in just minutes.
This rapid screening process reduces diagnostic timelines by up to 75%, expanding operational efficiency for healthcare systems while preserving patient dignity. Headquartered in Northern Ireland with ongoing clinical trials spanning Derry, Dublin, and Auckland, the award-winning startup, which was named the overall winner of Catalyst’s INVENT 2025 competition, is highly scalable across general practices, care homes, and remote telehealth environments.
Founder: Kyran O’Mahoney (2025)
Main Product: AI-powered business-to-business (B2B) digital accessibility and compliance software platform
Nexus Inclusion is an Irish technology startup engineered to help organisations eliminate online barriers and achieve strict digital compliance. Founded by vision-impaired tech entrepreneur Kyran O’Mahoney, who previously held senior leadership roles at Ryanair, Dunnes Stores, and AIB, the enterprise addresses a major global gap where roughly 96% of the top one million websites remain inaccessible to individuals with disabilities. Backed by €3.5 million in private investment, the platform is strategically built to help companies automatically align with stringent regulatory frameworks, such as the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Rather than simply flagging errors, the software democratises digital inclusion by operating on a deeply solutions-focused model that supports neurodivergent individuals, people with disabilities, and varying comprehension levels.
The primary technological asset of the venture is its intelligent, subscription-based AI engine that continuously scans websites, text, images, video, and digital media to optimise user experience.
The software stands out in the compliance market by transforming complex technical audits into intuitive, contextualised remediation paths. It explains exactly why an accessibility barrier exists, which specific disability it impacts, and provides actionable code fixes that can be seamlessly handed to software development teams. By offering an affordable, entry-level SaaS model starting at €49 per month, the Dublin-based firm helps businesses recapture lost e-commerce revenue from abandoned shopping carts while fundamentally protecting the digital rights of users.
Founders: Niamh Condon and Siobhan McNulty
Main Product: Individually portioned, moulded, texture-modified frozen meals for individuals with dysphagia
Ocras is an innovative Irish food technology company and social enterprise headquartered in West Cork, engineered to restore dignity to individuals living with swallowing and chewing difficulties. The business was established by dysphagia chef Niamh Condon and financial management expert Siobhan McNulty, who grew frustrated by the unappetizing, unidentifiable food purees routinely served to healthcare patients. Collaborating extensively with Teagasc, professional dietitians, and speech and language therapists, the duo spent years testing specialised recipes that fully comply with the safety standards of the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) framework. Their mission centres on transforming clinical nutrition into highly appealing, visually recognisable meals that allow vulnerable individuals to safely share social dining experiences without sacrificing culinary pleasure.
The enterprise manufactures its “Dine with Dignity” frozen product range directly from its West Cork facility, utilising custom 3D food moulds and recyclable packaging to reshape blended ingredients back into their original forms, such as sausages, waffles, and vegetables.
Certified as visually and texturally compliant by Health Innovation Hub Ireland. (HIHI), the brand operates a scalable business-to-business (B2B) via major national foodservice wholesalers like M&P O’Sullivan, BWG, Musgraves and Sysco in the Republic of Ireland while Northern Ireland is serviced by VF Foods, Ramsay Fine Foods & Musgrave NI. By supplying standardised, safe, and nutritionally dense meals to hospitals, nursing homes, and residential caretakers, the homegrown company eliminates institutional prep time while ensuring patients receive proper, dignified daily nourishment.
Opcare Ireland provides prosthetic, orthotic, posture, and mobility solutions for people with limb loss, limb difference, and a wide range of physical support needs. It works within clinical rehabilitation to help people access the devices, fittings, and follow-up support they need to move more comfortably and independently in everyday life. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all approach, it focuses on individual assessment, careful measurement, and tailored solutions that reflect each person’s condition, lifestyle, and recovery goals. That makes it especially relevant for people who need long-term support after injury, surgery, or amputation, as well as those living with mobility challenges from birth or later in life. It also supports patients through the adaptation process, helping them adjust to equipment and improve day-to-day function with greater confidence.
Its main product area is prosthetic and orthotic care, including artificial limbs, braces, and supportive mobility devices.
The founder named on its prosthetics page is Michael O’Byrne, founder and CEO of the parent company AM Healthcare Group. Opcare Ireland combines clinical expertise with modern technology to support people in improving comfort, movement, and quality of life. It plays an important role in making specialist mobility support more accessible and practical for patients across Ireland.
Otavo is a Waterford-based online retailer founded to serve Ireland’s special needs community, set up after its founders watched friends with additional needs kids and teens struggle to source basic items like bibs, sensory toys, and chewables, often having to import from overseas at extra cost and delay. The site was built to bring those products together in one Irish-based store, sparing families the hassle of shopping across multiple foreign websites and paying customs duties.
Rather than manufacturing its own line, Otavo operates as a curated specialist marketplace, stocking third-party brands such as HGL, Tobar, ChewBuddy, and Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Its catalogue spans sensory toys, chewables, ear defenders, weighted products, fine motor skill tools, and a strong selection of books on autism, ADHD, and neurodiversity, alongside an in-house Otavo-branded therapy putty range.
The company emphasises affordability and accessibility, with free shipping over €50, a 30-day returns policy, and an Otavo Rewards loyalty programme. What distinguishes Otavo within the Irish disability-product landscape is less originality of product and more its role as a trusted aggregator: a single, locally based destination where Irish parents and caregivers can browse vetted sensory and additional-needs products without the friction, cost, or uncertainty of buying piecemeal from international retailers.
Founders: Heidi Davis and Dr Donal O’Gorman
Main Product: AI-powered perimenopause wearable sensor and companion tracking application
Peri (originally founded as identifyHer) is a pioneering Dublin-based digital health company explicitly engineered to close the gender data gap in midlife women’s healthcare. Established by molecular medicine scientist Heidi Davis and clinical physiologist Dr. Donal O’Gorman, the startup addresses a historic deficit where perimenopausal symptoms have been systematically dismissed as subjective or untreatable. The system centres on a lightweight, waterproof biometric sensor worn discretely under the breast, a unique anatomical placement that allows it to capture physiological signals far more accurately than standard wristbands or smart rings. By collecting continuous, real-time data on hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disruption, heart rate variability, and stress levels, the device converts raw biological shifts into concrete digital evidence.
The companion smartphone app leverages proprietary AI algorithms trained exclusively on female midlife biomarkers to translate complex physiological patterns into clear, actionable summaries. Instead of leaving users to decode confusing data tables, the platform delivers weekly and monthly reports that help women track symptom clusters, evaluate whether specific treatments are working, and share objective medical records with their clinicians.
Recognised globally for its clinical rigour, the enterprise, whose CEO was named Enterprise Ireland’s Founder of the Year, is building the world’s first large-scale, continuous dataset on perimenopause. By reframing this transition as a vital window for long-term cardiovascular and bone health prevention, the homegrown venture empowers women to navigate their care with institutional confidence.
Polly & Andy is a Waterford-founded company making seamless bamboo socks, launched in 2019 by Polly and named in honour of her son Andy. The brand was built around sensory comfort rather than fashion alone, with seamless toes designed to eliminate the lumps and ridges in traditional socks that can irritate people with sensory sensitivities, conditions like dyspraxia, or poor circulation. Their tagline, “These ones don’t hurt,” speaks directly to that purpose: customers no longer need to turn socks inside out to avoid an uncomfortable seam pressing against their toes.
The range has grown well beyond a single product, now spanning ankle socks, knee-highs, soft-top socks (loose-fitting, aimed at people with poor circulation), and padded hiking socks, available for children, men and women, with matching family sets a popular option. Made from bamboo, the socks are marketed as sustainable, breathable, moisture-wicking and hypoallergenic. Reviews reflect a loyal following, with customers citing both the sensory comfort and the practical benefits, including one reviewer who switched to bamboo socks on a podiatrist’s advice after a fungal nail infection. The company ships internationally from its Irish base and also supplies wholesale and retail stockists, making it one of the more commercially established Irish brands built around accessible, sensory-friendly everyday wear.
The Reading Academy and MyWord Pal
Founders: Sarah Watchorn and Sarah Maguire
Main Product: Dyslexia friendly reading programmes for children who struggle to read
The Reading Academy provides structured, expert-led reading intervention programmes for children who struggle to read, delivered through weekly tuition classes in Co. Mayo and Co. Wicklow, as well as online courses for parents and comprehensive teacher training programmes. The teacher training package includes two years of ready-to-use lesson plans and resources, while the parent course gives families the tools to support their child’s learning at home. The mission is straightforward and unambiguous: to ensure that every child with dyslexia becomes a reader.
MyWordPal is the founders’ newest innovation, a voice-powered reading app designed specifically for children aged 6 to 9 with dyslexia or reading difficulties. In just six minutes a day over six months, the app is designed to improve a child’s reading accuracy by up to two years, by helping them master the high-frequency words essential for fluency. The app listens to the child read, corrects errors in real time, and provides the repetition needed to build confidence and retention, all without appointments, travel, or adult supervision. The company was named an Overall Winner in the Top 100 Most Ambitious Companies in Ireland 2025
Founder: Fiona Parfrey, Lauren Duggan, and Áine Kilkenny
Main Product: Period products and feminine-health related products
Riley is an Irish, female-founded period care brand built by Fiona Parfrey, Lauren Duggan and Áine Kilkenny after discovering the hidden toxins present in many mainstream period products. Their core product range is a line of 100% certified organic cotton tampons, pads, and pantyliners, free from chlorine bleach, pesticides, glues, and synthetic chemicals, available individually or through a customisable subscription box delivered to the door. Unlike conventional period products, which can contain traces of cancer-linked chemicals at levels far above what is permitted in drinking water, Riley’s products are biodegradable and compostable, positioning the brand as a clean, body-safe, and environmentally responsible alternative in a market long dominated by plastic-heavy, male-majority-owned companies.
The company is a certified B Corp, donates 1% of every sale to fight period poverty, and has won twelve awards to date, including recognition from PwC and Irish Tatler. Co-founder Fiona Parfrey has spoken at TEDx on what the menstrual cycle reveals about women’s health, reflecting the brand’s broader ambition to make menstrual wellbeing a mainstream conversation rather than a whispered one. With growing coverage from Vogue, RTE, and the Irish Times, and a loyal customer base across Ireland and beyond, Riley is fast establishing itself as one of Ireland’s most purposeful and progressive consumer brands.
Founder: Karen Leigh
Main Product: Affordable, accessible early intervention therapies and multi-disciplinary child development services
Sensational Kids is an award-winning Irish social enterprise headquartered in Kildare Town, explicitly engineered to provide vital frontline therapeutic supports for children with additional needs. The non-profit venture was established by parent and advocate Karen Leigh, who experienced firsthand the systemic barriers, exhausting public waitlists, and prohibitive private costs associated with securing occupational therapy for her own children. Operating on a heavily subsidised model, the organisation bridges the massive service gap in Ireland’s healthcare infrastructure, where tens of thousands of children languish on public diagnostic lists.
By providing timely, affordable developmental assessments, the enterprise ensures that a child’s economic background does not act as an exclusionary barrier to reaching their full potential.
The clinical and operational framework of the organisation employs a highly skilled multi-disciplinary team delivering speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, play therapy, and specialised hippotherapy.
Beyond direct sessions, the venture operates an e-commerce educational store that reinvests 100% of its profits directly back into funding subsidised clinical care across its regional hubs in Kildare, West Cork, Mayo, and Monaghan. To scale its societal impact, the firm broke ground on a cutting-edge, 17,000-square-foot National Child Development Centre in Kildare to treat thousands of families annually. Supported by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, this homegrown enterprise radically reframes pediatric early intervention from an inaccessible luxury into a fundamental, community-driven right.
To scale its societal impact, the firm broke ground on a cutting-edge, 17,000-square-foot National Child Development Centre in Kildare to treat thousands of families annually. Supported by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, this homegrown enterprise radically reframes pediatric early intervention from an inaccessible luxury into a fundamental, community-driven right.
Founder: Keith O’Grady
Main Product: Affordable, Irish-manufactured sensory products and customised multi-sensory room packages
Sensory House Ireland (Sensory House Limited) is an innovative manufacturing and design enterprise based in Ballymount, Dublin, engineered to make sensory rooms and adaptive products accessible and affordable. The company was established after founder Keith O’Grady realised that the high financial cost of specialised sensory environments frequently outpaced available government grants, leaving schools and families dependent on independent fundraising. Leveraging his background in memory foam manufacturing and localised production, O’Grady sought to completely disrupt the Irish assistive market. Operating on the core mission of “Making sensory mainstream,” the startup designs and delivers high-quality therapeutic equipment that satisfies the strict budgets of mainstream education and healthcare sectors.
The enterprise specialises in durable, homegrown manufacturing, developing adaptive physical solutions that cater to individuals on the autism spectrum, neurodivergent learners, and those with sensory processing differences. Its product suite spans customizable multi-sensory room installations, deep pressure tools, auditory devices, visual aids, and specialised tactile items like the “Buzzy Vibrating Cushion”.
Backed by support from the Local Enterprise Office, Sensory House supplies equipment directly to Irish primary schools, nurseries, universities, and private homes. Furthermore, the brand continuously scales its research and product development into nursing homes to support individuals living with dementia and Alzheimer’s, ensuring critical, sensory-rich support is readily available across all stages of life.
Founders: Adam Brennan
Main Product: Monthly curated subscription boxes and complete therapeutic wellness bundles for schools and homes
Sensory Learning Supplies is a proudly Irish-owned and operated online enterprise engineered to provide robust developmental tools for children of all learning abilities. The digital platform addresses a vital gap in the educational supply chain by serving as a comprehensive, specialised procurement hub for parents, occupational therapists, and resource educators. Its core philosophy centres on merging imagination, structured education, and neurodivergent-friendly play to help children reach critical developmental milestones. By curating a diverse marketplace of high-quality tactile resources, the e-commerce firm transforms how families and academic institutions access specialised tools designed to alleviate sensory overstimulation and enhance daily cognitive engagement.
The enterprise operates on an accessible direct-to-consumer and business-to-business (B2B) model, offering an expansive product catalogue categorised by specific physiological and educational needs. Its specialised inventory ranges from fine and gross motor skill packs to comprehensive “Nurture Room” wellness bundles explicitly designed for primary school integration. A core operational innovation of the brand is its highly popular monthly sensory subscription box service, which delivers expert-backed, age-appropriate tactile items directly to households.
By providing a structured, affordable channel for continuous sensory discovery, the homegrown online store empowers neurodivergent children across Ireland to build emotional regulation and physical coordination confidence.
Founders: Tadhg Mac Mahon and Alyssa Filardo (2023)
Main Product: LGBTQ+ safety, mapping, and inclusivity review platform, available via web and mobile application
The Shane Collective is an innovative Irish-founded technology enterprise engineered to map, verify, and champion safe public spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals worldwide. Conceived in 2023 by founders Tadhg Mac Mahon and Alyssa Filardo, the startup addresses modern safety anxieties, logistical friction, and the lack of verified data confronting the queer community during routine public navigation and travel. Operating as an interactive crowd-sourced platform, it allows users to search, rate, and meticulously review local businesses and public venues based on distinct LGBTQ+ safety and inclusion metrics. To accommodate varying comfort levels and protect users navigating hostile geopolitical regions, the web app enables individuals to submit community ratings anonymously without registering an active personal account.
To build a corporate layer of systemic inclusion, the startup administers a formal “Shane Certified” index program that evaluates and highlights businesses explicitly committed to upholding rigorous inclusivity frameworks. Over 90 major international institutions have secured this status, including prominent spaces such as Dublin’s Dogpatch Labs innovation hub, Angel City FC in the United States, and Hotel Arpoador in Brazil. Moving beyond its foundational cloud architecture, the enterprise transitioned its core community infrastructure into a dedicated mobile application suite equipped with advanced tools like safe real-time navigation, mapping and emergency protection measures. This tool equips queer travellers with the critical digital insights necessary to safely claim public spaces anywhere in the world.
Founders: Emma Grace and Patrick Grace (2019)
Main Product: AI-powered, individualised spelling curriculum and hybrid learning platform for primary schools
Spellings for Me is an innovative Irish educational technology company engineered to eliminate the “one-size-fits-all” approach to literacy in primary education. Founded by Tipperary primary school teachers Emma and Patrick Grace, the business addresses a critical flaw in traditional teaching: forcing an entire classroom to memorise identical, rigid spelling lists regardless of their varying aptitudes. The student-centric platform blends a cloud-based digital ecosystem with tailored physical workbooks to deliver a completely personalised learning journey for children aged 7 to 12. Rather than conducting arbitrary tests, the software administers individualised benchmark assessments to identify a pupil’s precise learning gaps, creating custom exercises focused purely on those problem areas.
In collaboration with Irish technology partner TEKenable, the platform launched an advanced Version 2.0 system, integrating sophisticated artificial intelligence to enable rapid regionalisation and adaptive scaling. This technical modernisation propelled the enterprise from a domestic solution, currently embedded in over 50% of Irish primary schools, into a major global exporter.
Backed by support from the Tipperary Local Enterprise Office and InterTradeIreland, Spellings for Me now serves over 90,000 pupils annually across 25 international countries, fundamentally reshaping the global landscape of elementary literacy development.
Founder Gillian Duggan White and Nina Shelton:
Main Product: Autism-friendly children’s clothing
Sully and Juno is a Dublin-founded children’s clothing brand built around sensory needs, launched by Gillian Duggan White and her friend Nina Shelton. The idea grew out of Gillian’s experience raising three sons with autism, each with distinct sensory sensitivities. After struggling during pandemic lockdowns to buy clothing online that suited her boys’ individual needs, she and Nina set out to create a brand that took the guesswork out of dressing children whose relationship with fabric, seams, and tags could otherwise turn into daily distress. As Gillan puts it, autism presents differently in every individual, so the brand was designed around information rather than a single “special needs” formula.
What sets Sully and Juno apart is its emphasis on transparency: every garment carries a detailed sensory profile noting fabric weight, tag placement and material, since something as small as a stitched-in label can trigger sensory overload in a child who can’t always explain what’s wrong. The range includes customisable items with a child’s name printed on, born out of practical safety concerns after one of Duggan White’s sons went missing and couldn’t verbally identify himself. Pricing is kept accessible, with sweatshirts around €26 and T-shirts around €14, reflecting the founders’ awareness that families of children with additional needs already face higher costs elsewhere.
Founder: Shana Chu
Main Product: Enabling inclusion by ensuring that a single size fits consistently across different fabrics, cuts, and seasons.
Based in Dublin, Tailr is a deep tech fashion platform founded by Shana Chu to revolutionise the garment industry by tackling inconsistent sizing and fabric waste directly at the manufacturing level. Drawing from her background as a garment technologist, Chu recognised that traditional fashion sizing fails because different rolls of fabric stretch, shrink, and behave unpredictably during production. To solve this grassroots industry crisis, Tailr utilises a proprietary cloud based AI system that serves as an intelligent data layer, facilitating seamless, real time communication between design teams, fabric mills, and factories to stabilise material data before production begins.
By analysing physical fabric performance rather than just digital body scans or static charts, Tailr enables product inclusion by ensuring that a single size fits consistently across different fabrics, cuts, and seasons. This B2B approach shifts the inclusion focus from consumer-facing tools to the supply chain itself, dramatically reducing the deflating retail experience of mismatched sizing. Ultimately, by organising fabric performance at the source, Tailr eliminates the manufacturing inconsistencies that drive up e-commerce returns and landfill waste, proving that operational deep tech can be a powerful engine for both sustainability and structural inclusion.
Founders: Thomas, Finbar and Shane Barry
Main Products: A range of fun, inclusive and original socks
Thomp2 Socks is an Irish family business founded by Thomas Barry (who has Down Syndrome), with the vision and support of his father, Finbar and grandson, Shane. Thomas’s lifelong love of socks, a childhood comfort that went everywhere with him, became the inspiration for a real business and a genuine livelihood. The brand sells a wide range of certified organic cotton novelty socks for men, women, and children, including Irish-themed designs, wide-fitting socks for people with diabetes or swollen feet, awareness socks for causes including mental health and Down Syndrome, and a monthly Sockscription box. A portion of every sale, 5% of profits, is donated to St. John of God’s and other Down Syndrome services and charities, turning every purchase into a small act of solidarity.
Thomas not only has Down Syndrome but also has a range of serious conditions, including Perthes Disease, Hirschsprung Disease, and a heart murmur, and became the youngest person in Ireland to receive a total hip replacement. Through his and his family’s determination, the Barry family was able to create a brand that not only gave Thomas confidence but also created a profitable business for the family. The brand has been featured on RTE, the Irish Independent, the Irish Examiner, and beyond, and was a finalist at the Arnotts PITCH’21 competition.
Thomp2 Socks is a powerful reminder that entrepreneurship, purpose, and joy can come from the most unexpected and wonderful places. Sadly, co-founder Finbar Barry passed away from Pulmonary Fibrosis, and the brand has released a limited edition awareness sock in his memory, with all proceeds going to the Irish Lung Fibrosis Association.