UCC student Kate Madden has taken second place in the Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards, a worldwide competition designed to find the best student entrepreneurs.
The 20 year old, who is in her third year of a Food Marketing and Entrepreneurship course, founded FenuHealth alongside her sister Annie. The objective of FenuHealth is the pinpoint and alleviate stomach problems in horses and ponies.
Speaking to Echo Live, Madden said that she was "over the moon" with the recognition, which sees her receive $10,000 and a scholarship to take part in the EO Accelerator Programme.
The proceeds of her first runner-up finish will go into the research and development of more products for FenuHealth.
"We have a few more products that are ready to go out on the market, but obviously right now is just not the right time to be pushing new stuff, so we will definitely be using the prize money to develop them even more so that when we do decide to release them they’re 100% ready and will sell."
The story of the Madden's FenuHealth business derive from the 2015 BT Young Scientist Exhibition, as well as a recognition of gastric issues rife in equine life due to their grandfather breeding racehorses.
"Humans only produce acid when we eat.
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"Horses’ stomachs produce acid all the time.
"Stomach issues are an almost universal problem affecting racehorses, sport horses and ponies in the field.
"It’s estimated that 90 percent of racehorses have stomach/gastric problems.
"Our product, which is 100 percent natural, can be fed to a racehorse right up to the day of a race."
Madden was the only woman in the seven-strong field, and beat out over 1,500 applicants from 50 countries to reach the finals.
Since it's foundation in 2015, FenuHealth have received a litany of awards, including the Enterprise Ireland People's Choice Award in 2016 and the 2017 All Stars Start-up of the Year 2017.
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