EziVein wins Bank of Ireland and Ignite’s Best Business award

18 Sep 2019

University College Cork. Image: luissantos84/Depositphotos

UCC graduate Marie Casey won a business award for her medical device EziVein, which enhances the visibility of veins to reduce the time and trauma it takes to complete a blood draw.

On Tuesday evening (17 September), EziVein was named Best Business at an awards events run by Bank of Ireland and Ignite at University College Cork (UCC).

Developed by Marie Casey, EziVein is a device that makes it easier to draw blood from veins. The medical aid was designed to enhance the visibility of a vein to reduce the time and trauma for a blood draw or IV cannulation in the 35pc of patients who experience difficult vein access (DVA).

UCC-based Ignite, which is a start-up programme for recent graduates, presented EziVein with its top honour at the university’s Devere Hall.

‘Innovation is flourishing’

Ignite’s director, Eamon Curtin, said: “There was some outstanding businesses on the programme, and Marie Casey’s device could have profound positive implications for patients around the world. Ignite demonstrates that innovation is flourishing at Irish universities and our role is to nurture that innovation into commercial reality.”

Casey, who developed EziVein, is a recent Master’s graduate in Public Health in UCC, following on from her higher diploma in Health, Safety and Welfare at Work.

Casey was selected for the award by a judging panel that included Marcelle McAuliffe from Bank of Ireland, management consultant and former VP of PepsiCo Mary Good, and DC Cahalane, CEO of Republic of Work.

McAuliffe said: “It was difficult to choose the winners and, as always, the quality of the business presentations was extremely high. It’s fantastic to see so many promising start-ups with a bright future ahead.”

Another winner at the award show was Paul O’Shea, who won Best Business Plan for Peckish – an online platform that connects restaurants to consumers with different lifestyles and dietary requirements. O’Shea is a graduate of computer science at UCC.

Last year’s overall winner, ApisProtect, a start-up that uses sensors to monitor the health of honey bee colonies, recently announced that it will now be monitoring 20m honey bees across the world and has received significant funding since its win last year.

University College Cork. Image: luissantos84/Depositphotos

Kelly Earley was a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com