
From left: David Bowles (The Yield Lab); Faye Walsh Drouillard (WakeUp Capital); Seamus Kenny (founder of Auto Coupler); James Maloney (Enterprise Ireland); and Gary Ryan (director of AgTechUCD). Image: Gareth Chaney/Photocall Ireland
The start-up won the AgTechUCD Award at the National Ploughing Championship last September.
Kilkenny-based start-up Auto Coupler has today (16 January) been announced as the winner of the 2025 AgTechUCD ‘One to Watch’ Award.
Auto Coupler was named winner during the fourth iteration of the AgTechUCD Accelerator Programme, following a final pitching event held at the Innovation Centre at University College Dublin’s (UCD) Lyons Farm in Kildare. The judging panel for the event was made up of James Maloney (Enterprise Ireland), Faye Walsh Drouillard (WakeUp Capital) and David Bowles (The Yield Lab).
The business was among the seven agritech start-ups selected to participate in the 12-week ‘agccelerator’ programme last October.
In September, Auto Coupler was crowned the winner of AgTechUCD Award at the National Ploughing Championship.
The company is the creator of the Auto Coupler system, which allows a tractor or digger loader to attach to any agricultural implement, automatically coupling the loader’s hydraulic circuit to the implement and then locking the implement in place with the loader’s locking system. As founder Seamus Kenny succinctly put it, it allows loader operators “to change an implement without leaving their seat, in four seconds, at the touch of a button”.
The business claims that its system has safety advantages over conventional systems, as the operator does not have to leave the cab of the machine when attaching or disconnecting any attachment or implement.
Celebrating the win, Kenny said that he considered it a “great honour” to accept the award.
“I would like to thank AgTechUCD and Enterprise Ireland for their ongoing support and also to thank Noreside Engineering Group, who have supported the physical engineering and prototype phase of developing the Auto Coupler system, and acknowledge the financial support and advice received from the Kilkenny Local Enterprise Office.”
Kenny said that the Auto Coupler’s next step is “to target the agricultural and construction implement manufacturing market” with its system.
Gary Ryan, director of AgTechUCD, congratulated the start-up on being named the overall winner. “I wish Auto Coupler every success for the future as they continue their entrepreneurial journey.”
Other start-ups which completed the latest programme in addition to Auto Coupler were Aerial Ag Ireland, Evogen, Iona Minerals, Lurra Bio, RoboCrop and Weighless Wonders.
Programme partners included AIB, Enterprise Ireland, Herdwatch, IFAC, The Yield Lab and Thrive/SVG Ventures.
So far, 34 start-ups have completed the four AgTechUCD accelerator programmes. Some of these start-ups over the years have included Cotter AgriTech, Moonsyst, MyGug, OptaHaul, Pitseal, Proveye, Silicate and TrojanTrack.
AgTechUCD is funded through the Regional Enterprise Development Fund, which is administered by Enterprise Ireland.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.