‘A high, then a crushing low’: Life as a start-up founder trying to get off the ground

“We’ve had so many ups and downs,” says Eoin Everard, a healthtech start-up founder. “It’s been a long journey, but I think we’re here now.”He is only a few months away from bringing his product – BackAware Belt, a wearable piece of sports technology that delivers instant feedback to users on the safety of their back position while exercising – to the market. But it has taken more than seven years to get this far.He travelled to Lisbon this week with the help of Web Summit to pitch his ideas to potential investors at the global technology conference. It is the first time he has the final product ready to show.“You can be in the trenches as well, developing the technology, securing the patent, getting everything correct. So, when you bring it out to the world and show it to people, there’s an excitement there,” he says.READ MORE“Start-ups, really, are like high, high, high, then a crushing low, high, high, high, crushing low. That’s what it feels like.” Some of the highs include getting six-figure funding from Enterprise Ireland, while some of the lows feature a costly batch of prototypes being mostly unusable. Eoin Everard, the founder of BackAware, holding the healthtech start-up's product and mobile app. Photograph: Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye This rollercoaster journey, has, in large part, been sustained by the grants, funds and prizes Everard has received to continue developing his product. “I’ve spent a quarter of a million on this,” he adds.His background as a middle-distance runner helped, too. “The thing it helps with most is being able to handle defeats – because with running, you might run a good race one in every four or five competitions . . . and I think that’s what a start-up is like, you just keep picking yourself back up.”Like many other founders presenting at Web Summit this year, the idea behind his start-up stemmed from a recurring issue in his own work. “I’m a physiotherapist and I came up with it because I gave patients exercises to do and they would come back doing it completely incorrectly.“I always thought if they could see or feel what I saw or felt, they would improve much quicker,” he says. This is where the belt comes in. Upon sensing an incorrect movement that may jeopardise a user’s back security, a soft – but noticeable – vibration comes from the belt. A notification also appears on the corresponding app.While artificial intelligence (AI) is not currently involved in the software or hardware, Everard says “that’s definitely where we want to go”.The three central aspects of the technology involve educating users on what to do, informing them about how to do it properly and holding them accountable for actually doing it. With that in mind, Everard says his “big vision” is to be a one-stop online shop for physiotherapy services.His rival is – literally – standing across from him as he says this: Jenni Dowley, also a physiotherapist, also a healthtech startup founder and also from Co Kilkenny. It’s a small world, even among the 70,000 or so people who attended Web Summit this week.Jenni Downey, the founder of Building Bones healthtech start-up, at her stand at Web Summit 2026 in Lisbon. Photograph: Stephen Conneely/The Irish Times Her startup, however, came from a personal issue rather than a professional one. “My mum was diagnosed with osteoporosis about seven years ago and was given the advice simply that bending down might break her spine. This is a lady in her 50s who is a nurse,” she says.Dowley started working with her mother and her patients “to improve their bone health through personalised intervention” and came to establish Building Bones, a digital health platform.She launched its app six weeks ago across Ireland and Britain. “Feedback has been really good, so it’s very exciting for us,” she says. Like Everard, though, this entrance into the market has been years in the making.While pursuing a master’s degree in digital health and entrepreneurship at University College London, she began researching how to turn the idea into an actual product.She is slightly sceptical about introducing AI into the business: the new technology can impact adherence to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and, given the sensitivity of much of the app’s health data, this can go south quite quickly.The responsibility can sometimes feel immense. “To date, I’m a solo founder and solo employee – so I’ve done this on my own, so there’s real highs. You get all this traction and you’re doing amazing and then one thing happens that’s completely outside your control and it sets you back so many steps,” she says.At Web Summit, at least, she was in good company – with 115 Irish start-ups exhibiting at the tech fair. This is the highest number in its history, according to the organisers.“In 2017, two Irish start-ups exhibited at Web Summit in Lisbon. This year there are more than 110. That’s crazy growth,” chief executive Paddy Cosgrave said in a statement.The event hosted its largest ever Chinese delegation and had a difficult-to-ignore presence of humanoid robots. As was to be expected, many of the event’s discussion panels and start-up exhibitions had an increased focus on harnessing AI for business innovation.That appeared to be less of a focus at the Irish start-ups centre – although Jonathan Browne seemed in his element on the topic.“That’s exactly what we’re focused on, enabling AI in business,” he says as the chief executive of Octoglo, an agentic AI start-up that enables businesses to centralise their AI use within back-end systems through a single platform.Jonathan Browne, chief executive of Octoglo, at its stand at Web Summit 2026 in Lisbon. Photograph: Stephen Conneely/The Irish Times “Our big claim to fame is that it’s AI to the desk in less than 15 minutes – no projects, no lengthy roll-out, no budget requirements,” he says.“The big thing really is to just get started with AI – sometimes these new frontiers can seem daunting, but I think the main concept for me is to get started and get started quickly. Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is to give people more time to focus on their business.”The company is 18 months in the making and has already reached “commercial-grade platforms”, according to Browne, “so it’s ready to go”. Browne continues to run a separate business alongside this venture. He started that business back in 2010, which was “the last time I certainly didn’t have this parachute there with me”, he says, referring to his current, more secure employment. He attended Web Summit more than 10 years ago, when it was held in Dublin’s RDS.“Look at the scale of it – it’s large,” he says of the tech conference’s current status in Lisbon. “There’s a great mix of people, really interesting conversations, a lot of innovation going on – it’s great..When The Irish Times visited the stands hosting Irish startups, there was a dizzying sense of excitement among them. A sense of camaraderie too, having been on their feet all day together. “The Irish start-ups exhibiting at Web Summit demonstrate the depth of innovation and international ambition from our early-stage company portfolio,” says Anna-Marie Turley, the head of enterprise solutions at Enterprise Ireland, which helped finance the appearance of some Irish startups at Web Summit.“Collectively, 18 of the participating companies are seeking nearly €30 million in investment to accelerate their growth,” she adds. “Web Summit provides an important opportunity to connect with international investors, customers and partners, and Enterprise Ireland is committed to supporting these ambitious companies as they scale into global markets.”However, the Irish start-up ecosystem faces challenges at home in attracting funding. Venture capital funding for SMEs in Ireland fell by 10 per cent in the first half of this year, according to the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA), with foreign investment accounting for 82 per cent of all the funds during that time.“These levels are flashing red warning signals as they represent some of the highest on record and emphasise our over-exposure to overseas investors,” says Richard Watson, IVCA’s chairman.Many of the Irish startups at Web Summit will be vying for that capital. Placed near the larger German and Czech start-up exhibitions, and right next to a seemingly never-ending queue for a coffee stand, the exhibiting companies were in prime position for caffeine-induced enthusiasm from fellow conference-goers.Far from the fanfare of Web Summit, however, in a rural Co Mayo village, the shared pitch of two local GAA and football clubs has fallen into disrepair, with weeds spurting from the soil and grass too tall to cut.Aidan Gaughan once painted its markings – the white lines that define the boundaries of the pitch – but not any more.Only 200 or so people live in Bonniconlon, a classic one-road town some 10km from Ballina but actually closer to the border with Co Sligo. This small population has led its local football club through times of struggle, attracting enough volunteers and players to get by. .Somewhat accepting the limitations that come with operating multiple sports teams to service such a small population, Gaughan has put his bachelor’s degree in engineering and master’s in robotics to good use in Nerium Technology.Nerium Technology's SPM Robot, an autonomous sports pitch-marking robot that uses satellite information and GPS systems to function. Photograph: Aidan Gaughan Aidan Gaughan, founder of Nerium Technology, at Web Summit 2026 in Lisbon. Photograph: Supplied by Aidan Gaughan “We manufacture autonomous robots that mark sports pitches – basically, the robot uses GPS and satellite information to go around and spray white lines of sports fields,” he says, offering up a well-practised elevator pitch.While it may sound like a minor necessity, Gaughan thinks it can have a practical and personal benefit. “Every weekend, I used to have to line my local team’s pitch, as my dad had done for years before me. And one time in particular, I was away and a team-mate was meant to line it for me.“When we turned up to play the game on Sunday, there were no marks on the pitch – so I had to run around all my team-mates while they were warming up to get it done before kick off,” he says, adding that “most amateur clubs depend on volunteers” for everyday tasks yet “the numbers are declining” amid an ageing population.“I just thought surely in this day and age, there has to be a robot to do that for you.”Sure enough, there was. The only problem was its price point. “It cost €35,000 to purchase”, Gaughan says, “crazy money”. Like so many others presenting at Web Summit in Lisbon this week, his start-up began as a fix to a problem in his own life – his solution will come to the market for around €5,000, he says.Gaughan was studying for a bachelor’s degree in engineering at Sligo Atlantic University at the time, and thought he could “make something for less than that, that’s more affordable for your average club”. It was during his master’s in robotics in Bath University, however, that the project took off when the central idea of his dissertation became Nerium Technology’s first prototype. Yet unlike many of his fellow attendees, Gaughan does not see his start-up depending on AI-powered technologies in the future: “It’s probably even more simple than that – it doesn’t need any AI . . . it’s actually quite a simple idea, because it uses satellites to operate through GPS”.As the venture progressed, so too did the commitment it required. He left his full-time job a little more than a year ago to go all-in on his start-up. “My family were kind of wondering what I was doing when I left to go at this, but I just wanted to give it my best shot,” he adds.Was it a leap of faith? “Big time,” Gaughan says. But is it worth the risk? “Absolutely. It’s trying to make technology accessible for everyone.”