Front row (l-r) are, John Lonsdale, CEO, CeADAR; Dr Chris Byrne, MESO; Siobhan Ryan, Diotima; Eamonn Grant, RunCommerce; Katie Vellner, Envaira; Phuong Vu, Databuckets; Rakhi Gupta, Infralign.ai; Michael O’Shea, Envaira; Jonathan Dempsey, Diotima; and Trung Nguyen, Databuckets, Liam Cronin, Director of Innovation, UCD.
Back row (l-r) are; Gavin Rooney, AnotherTrip; James Murphy, Setanta Space; Eugene Cush, Envaira; Emer Sexton, Neuronourish; Phil O’Connell, Stormlands Mining; Róisín O’Connell, Stormlands Mining and Dr Tahir Rabbani, Infralign.ai.
Dublin, Ireland, 30 April 2026, Ten (10) AI-first start-ups have been selected to participate in the third AI Ecosystem Accelerator Programme which commenced today at University College Dublin (UCD).
The Accelerator, delivered by NovaUCD in partnership with CeADAR, Ireland’s Centre for Applied AI, is part of CeADAR’s European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) for AI programme to support Irish start-ups and SMEs innovating with AI.
The participating start-ups are; AnotherTrip; Databuckets; Diotima; Envaira; Infralign.ai; MESO; Neuronourish; RunCommerce; Setanta Space and Stormlands Mining.
See profiles below.
The focus of the 6-month programme is to support Ireland’s most promising and disruptive AI-first start-ups to accelerate commercial traction for global markets and become investment-ready scalable businesses.
Dr Ricardo Simon Carbajo, Director of Innovation and Development, CeADAR, said, “It is quite rewarding to see the growing interest of entrepreneurs in our AI Ecosystem Accelerator year on year. The Accelerator is a key pillar of CeADAR’s European Digital Innovation Hub for AI programme which has a set of services to reduce the risk and catalyse the adoption of AI in start-ups, SMEs and public sector organisations.”
Michelle Doyle, Senior Manager, Strategic Innovation Partnerships, NovaUCD, said, “I would like to congratulate the ten start-ups which have been selected, following a very competitive selection process, to participate in our third AI Ecosystem Accelerator programme.
This year’s programme has been designed as a conversion engine to support ambitious, AI-first start-ups that already have market validation or live pilots underway and are now focused on accelerating traction on a global stage and are seeking to close a funding round this year.”
The AI Ecosystem Accelerator programme provides a structured pathway for founders and includes a combination of commercial, fundraising and technical supports. It also includes guidance from CeADAR’s AI experts to strengthen AI implementation and readiness for scale and support on data strategy, model evaluation, AI deployment readiness to ensure the underlying AI is robust, reliable and fit for real-world use.
Among the twenty (20) start-ups which have completed AI Ecosystem Accelerator Programmes delivered to date are, Customs Window, TrojanTrack, UniDoodle and Wrksense.
The AI Ecosystem Accelerator Programme is funded through the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) framework, a Europe-wide initiative supported by the European Commission and the Governments of member states. In Ireland, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, through Enterprise Ireland, leads on the EDIH programme.
The 2026 AI Ecosystem Accelerator Programme will end with a showcase event in October.
Profiles of Participating Start-ups
An AnotherTrip is an AI-powered platform built for travel and hospitality brands to find, vet, manage, and measure content creator partnerships. Founder: Gavin Rooney. https://anothertrip.com/
Databuckets has developed proprietary technology which powers a large-scale data platform and agentic analytics to enable mobile game and mobile app companies to move seamlessly from raw data to real-time, actionable insights significantly faster than legacy tech stacks. Founders: Phuong Vu and Trung Nguyen. https://www.databuckets.com/
Diotima enables educators to give learners more formative assessments and individualised feedback in any subject with reliable and responsible AI. Diotima is supported by The Learnovate Centre at Trinity College Dublin. Founder: Siobhan Ryan. CEO: Jonathan Dempsey. https://www.diotima.ai/
Envaira is an EHS (Environmental, Health & Safety) compliance platform. Designed to give companies complete visibility, control and confidence across all applicable EHS legislation, tailored to their operations, so they know and understand what they need to do, are audit-ready and can easily demonstrate compliance, drive continuous improvement and turn data into actionable insights. Co-founders: Michael O’Shea, Katie Vellner and Eugene Cush. https://envaira.com/
Infralign.ai is an agentic AI platform that acts as a virtual staff architect for enterprise cloud teams. It analyses Azure infrastructure cost and workload behaviour, then delivers safe, merge-ready code fixes that address the root causes of overspend. Founders: Dr Tahir Rabbani and Rakhi Gupta. https://infralign.ai
MESO builds AI planning tools that generate curriculum-aligned lesson plans, assessments, and rubrics for teachers. MESO is supported by the ADAPT Research Ireland Centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology at Trinity College Dublin. Founder: Dr Chris Byrne. https://www.mesolab.ai/
Neuronourish is an AI-powered brain health platform focused on the early detection and prevention of cognitive decline. By combining behavioural, lifestyle, and biological data, it enables personalised interventions that help individuals maintain cognitive performance and reduce their risk of neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease. Founder: Emer Sexton. https://neuronourish.clinic/
RunCommerce is an AI-powered commerce platform transforming how D2C brands and retailers launch, manage, and scale their online operations. Founder: Eamonn Grant. https://runcommerce.ai/
Setanta Space, headquartered at NovaUCD, is developing novel modular onboard computing hardware and AI software designed to make spacecraft more autonomous, resilient and capable. Founders: Adam Taylor and James Murphy. https://www.setantaspace.com/
Stormlands Mining is an AI-first Critical Raw Materials (CRM) valuation and analytics platform. Founders: Róisín O’Connell and Phil O’Connell. https://www.stormlandsmining.com/
The AI Ecosystem Accelerator programme delivered by NovaUCD and CeADAR, and funded by the EDIH, supports entrepreneurs who are developing AI solutions for a global market. www.ucd.ie/innovation/aiecosystem/
CeADAR – Ireland’s Centre for Applied AI, is the national centre supporting organisations across Ireland to explore, experiment with, and integrate AI into products and processes. Established in 2013 and funded by Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, CeADAR bridges the gap between academic research and industry needs, accelerating the journey from concept to market-ready solutions. With a strong focus on business impact, CeADAR empowers companies to boost productivity, competitiveness, and sustainability through innovative, real-world AI applications. (opens in a new window)www.ceadar.ie
NovaUCD, named by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s Leading Start-Up Hubs for the last three years in a row, has been nurturing and supporting high-tech start-ups with global potential since 2003. NovaUCD has developed an excellent and expanded infrastructure and a suite of comprehensive business support programmes, dedicated accelerators, and an ecosystem of mentors, investors and industry partners that help to nurture an enthusiastic and dynamic community of start-ups and established companies, to grow and scale on the global stage. NovaUCD was originally funded through a unique public-private partnership that included AIB; AMD; Arthur Cox; Deloitte; Enterprise Ireland; Ericsson; Goodbody and UCD. (opens in a new window)www.novaucd.ie
The European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) are one-stop shops supporting companies and public sector organisations to respond to digital challenges and become more competitive. Four European Digital Innovation Hubs, including CeADAR, are now operational in Ireland. (opens in a new window)https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/activities/edihs
