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Mark O’Sullivan. Image: Fintan Clarke Photography
‘Luna’ is a NeuroBell-created portable brain monitor that allows neonatal ICU staff to quickly detect seizures.
Mark O’Sullivan, the co-founder and CEO of NeuroBell, has taken the title as this year’s Enterprise Ireland High-Potential Start-up (HPSU) Founder of the Year.
Marking its 10th year since launching, the Founder of the Year Awards recognise fast-emerging Irish start-ups and their high-potential entrepreneurs.
NeuroBell’s first product ‘Luna’ is a portable brain monitor with AI-powered seizure detection capabilities that enable neonatal ICU staff to quickly diagnose seizures without subspecialty expertise.
The medtech is a spin-out of University College Cork (UCC). In 2020, O’Sullivan, who was working on his PhD with the Irish Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research (INFANT) at the university, was awarded the EI Student Entrepreneur Awards for developing the brain-monitoring device.
In 2023, co-founder Dr Alison O’Shea was one among four women founders to receive a Enterprise Ireland grants worth a total of €3.27m to help commercialise and launch their start-up from UCC.
The same year, NeuroBell spun out and secured €2.1m in seed funding in a round led by Furthr VC, Atlantic Bridge, HBAN Medtech Syndicate and EI. The start-up then went on to hire 12 employees in early 2024.
“Luna allows healthcare workers in neonatal ICU’s to act quickly with the right information. Our ultimate aim is to grow the business globally, bringing Luna to all hospital settings for the benefit of critically ill infants and their families,” said O’Sullivan at the awards ceremony in the Salesforce Tower yesterday (16 October).
“I am deeply honoured to receive this award, particularly as the nominees are selected by founder peers. Enterprise Ireland has been with us on our start-up journey and we look forward to working with them as we scale into the US and European markets.”
The start-up competed for the overall award with other heavy-hitting Irish HPSUs including biotech devices manufacturer Marama Labs; Senus, which provides measurement, reporting and verification technology for natural capital; Pilot Path, a pilot training platform; and Nova UCD-based fintech Assiduous.
The winner this year was selected by a panel of judges, which included Andreea Wade, a general partner at Delta Partners VC; Brian Shields, the CEO and co-founder of Neurent Medical; and Tom Cusack, the divisional manager of industrial and life sciences at Enterprise Ireland.
More than 480 founders have participated in the HPSU Founder of the Year Awards to date, coming from a variety of sectors including fintech, digital technologies, medtech, food and sustainability.
“The Founder of the Year Awards shine a spotlight on the ambition, innovation and resilience of Ireland’s start-up community. These awards are a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit that drives high-potential start-ups to scale globally,” said Jenny Melia, the CEO of Enterprise Ireland.
“Enterprise Ireland is proud to support these founders at every stage of their journey, working closely with partners across the ecosystem to ensure Ireland remains a world-class location to start and scale a business. I want to congratulate Mark and Neurobell and all of this year’s finalists for their achievements and commitment to building globally ambitious companies.”
Last year, Heidi Davis, the co-founder and CEO of Peri, which develops an AI-powered wearable device to help manage perimenopause symptoms, won the overall award.