New Series on RTE 2 for Ireland's Young Entrepreneurs

Vincent O'Brien's development called 'Silasock' gathered the most number of votes in the live final from the Millenium Hall in Cork on 13th April.

Vincent overcame tough competition from fellow contestants Angela Ferrara (sexy lingerie for big busts) and Darren Cassidy (Park n' Gard) to win the grand prize of €25,000 and become the winner of The Fund. 'Silasock', is a new method of preserving baled silage, which is an eco friendly alternative to plastic silagery.

Angela Ferarra came in second with her concept of 'Bella Lusso,' a company that provides sexy lingerie, swimwear and clothes for D cup to JJ cup bra sizes.

Darren Cassidy's 'Park n' Gard' concept is a disc that lets you park your car and then gives you ten minutes to get your parking disc and return stress free.

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The Fund is a new factual entertainment series from RTE that searches Ireland to find 9 young would-be entrepreneurs with sharp ideas, and see them compete over seven weeks for a 25,000 Euro prize that will help them realise their vision and start up their own business.

With more and more businesses springing up each month across the nation, the spirit of Irish entrepreneurship has never been so strong.

And that's what The Fund is all about - building, and more importantly, selling new business ideas.

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Previous Episodes

Episode 1

Show 1 which featured on Thursday 2nd of March sees the audition process and the choosing of the 9 contestants from hundreds of applicants that will continue on to battle it out for the prize money. The remaining shows see our contestants being set individual business and marketing tasks to enable them to advance their budding enterprises. They are given invaluable advice from industry experts as well as being coached and assessed by a judging panel of some of Ireland's top business brains.

A knockout competition, the series will follow our young hopefuls over the weeks as their fresh business ideas take shape and they do all they can to avoid elimination – one contestant is eliminated by our judges each week.

Episode 2

Show 2, saw one contestant, John Purcel, whose idea was to create novelty interactive school books, being eliminated for delivering the weakest presentation of the 9 hopefuls to the series judges.

The last three remaining contestants in the competition will battle it out in a Live Final, scheduled for Thursday April 13th from The Millennium Hall, Cork City, where the whole of Ireland will get the opportunity to cast their vote and award the prize to the best business idea.

Episode 3

The eight remaining contestants work with a Dublin Graphics Company (20:20 Vision) for a task that sees them design a print advertisement for their business ideas. One contestant hits a setback that could see them being eliminated from the competition. Contestant Tim Hurley is eliminated.

Episode 4

This week the wannabe entrepreneurs are in Galway to face the public and they encounter a Focus Group from Hell. The torture continues when our contestants face the judges for elimination and someone else has to leave the competition. Karen Creed & Ronan O' Brien are eliminated.

Episode 5

The remaining contestants are in Cork this week to work with an advertising guru on a television advert for their business ideas. With another elimination looming, the pressure is beginning to show.

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The Judges

Our main series judge is Maree Morrissey, Founder and Editor of Irish Entrepreneur, Ireland's top selling business magazine. Other judges include Frankie Whelehan, Founder and Director of Choice Hotels Ireland and David Jesse, Managing Director of EBay Ireland.