2025 Student Inc. includes 40% female and 60% male participants

Students from across ATU participating in Student Inc. this summer recently took part in a workshop to go through the process of design thinking and prototyping at ATU MakerSpace Sligo.

Funded by Higher Education 4.0 under the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 3, ATU MakerSpace is a pioneering initiative that fosters technology and creativity within ATU and beyond, inspiring the next generation of students to embrace STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) as dynamic educational pathways and career opportunities.

Higher Education 4.0 Innovation Projects Manager Noel Mulkeen said: “ATU MakerSpace was delighted to showcase its Sligo facility and introduce these students to new ways of using technology when it comes to entrepreneurship. The STEM subjects can be adopted in most if not all fields of study and work and, at ATU MakerSpace, our facilitators love exploring new ideas and finding solutions.”

The workshop was facilitated by Hassan Dabbagh, who said that “it was a very positive event”.

ATU MakerSpace facilitator Hassan Dabbagh

In all, 90 student entrepreneurs from across 13 locations nationwide take part in Student Inc., which is Ireland’s flagship student entrepreneurship accelerator. 

Now celebrating 12 years of nurturing innovation and enterprise, the 2025 Student Inc. programme brings together a dynamic mix of 11 multidisciplinary teams and 65 solo entrepreneurs, drawn from 40 academic courses across universities and institutes of technology nationwide.

This year’s cohort includes 40% female and 60% male participants, representing an even balance between business and humanities fields (50%) and science and engineering disciplines (50%).

Backed by a national network of nine Irish universities, one international partner, and the Higher Education Authority (HEA), Student Inc. offers a 13-week immersive experience designed to help students turn early-stage business ideas and inventions into viable startups.

Participants receive €4,000 in seed funding, access to expert mentoring, industry-led workshops, and tailored coaching from seasoned entrepreneurs and investors.

Helping hand at ATU MakerSpace

A unique feature of Student Inc. is the inclusion of the on-campus incubators which will host these students for the duration of the programme. The students will have the opportunity to interact daily with the entrepreneurs based in the incubators.

Originally developed by Munster Technological University’s Rubicon Centre, the programme is now delivered across 13 locations including incubation centres in Athlone, Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, Kerry, Letterkenny, Limerick, Sligo, and Waterford.

Its hybrid delivery model enables students to stay connected to their home campuses while accessing world-class training and peer collaboration.

Further information available at www.studentinc.ie.

If you have any questions on the programme or other entrepreneurial activities at ATU please contact Student Entrepreneurship Officer, grace.latham@atu.ie