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Eve Savage.
A SPECIAL competition was held last weekend focussing on finding solutions to challenges posed to businesses and the wider community by the COVID-19 crisis, with a local team emerging as winners.
Techstars Startup Weekend Ireland operated the nationwide competition over April 24th-26th which enabled collaboration for both technical and non-technical entrepreneurially minded people to come together, share their skills and connect remotely as a team to provide immediate solutions to real world problems.
Teams based in Kerry took part in the 54 hour long competition and secured 1st and 3rd place wins with their solutions, ‘FeverFinder’ and ‘GatherRound’.
Eve Savage from the Tom Crean Business Centre at IT Tralee who is a member of the winning team ‘FeverFinder’ said; “It was a great experience to work remotely with people you have never met on a shared problem and come out 54 hours later with a minimum viable product that can hopefully be presented to investors”.
FeverFinder is an application whereby employees upload daily temperature readings that alert their organisation to clusters of fevers which may be occurring in real time.
With long delays in access to testing and results this could be a first indicator of a breakout of COVID19 amongst large groups of employees.
FeverFinder is presented in a kit with medical grade temperature strips and personalised QR codes for each individual linking them to the app which triggers an appropriate response by each party when high fevers are recorded.
“This type of solution can be rolled out quickly, safely, cheaply and effectively to each industry as the lock down is incrementally lifted,” said Eve.
“A good example will be when schools and colleges reopen. I don’t think we as a nation are ready to have our temperature taken on the streets or at the entrance doors of our workplaces and institutes. However, 98% of people surveyed said they would happily log and record their temperature at home before attending work and other activities in a bid to safeguard themselves and their colleagues and provide useful real time data than can assist the appropriate agencies to act”.
Helen Rea.
Helen Rea, Programme Manager at RDI Hub and Niamh O’Hora UX Design Lead at Aspen Grove claimed the third-place prize with their team’s concept GatherRound a social enterprise that provides an online platform to help grieving communities connect, share stories and celebrate loved ones during COVID-19.
Niamh O’Hora
Niamh O’Hora decribed her experience of the competition; “This was my second Techstars Startup Weekend and it’s something amazing to be part of. It takes a lot of energy but the rewards are well worth it. Anybody with any spark of entrepreneurial or creative mindsets should join one”.
“It was an intense, high octane weekend and all the more incredible considering we were strangers forming a virtual team,” commented Helen Rea from RDI Hub. “I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to people of any age, background and skill set. Imagine the new products, services and companies we can kickstart by running a physical Startup Weekend post lockdown. Innovation and entrepreneurship thrives during times of economic downturns so stay tuned to RDI Hub, Tom Crean Business Centre and regional Kerry Hubs post-lockdown”.
Startup Ireland Weekend Team Members:
FeverFinder Team: Colm Flynn, Aoife Cheung, Clare McCahill, Eve Savage & David Curran
GatherRound Team: Meg Brennan, Suzanne Mill, Helen Rea & Niamh O’Hora
