HaPPE Earth WINS Inaugural All-Island Circular Venture Awards

Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR), in its capacity as the secretariat of CIRCULÉIRE, and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE) are delighted to announce the winners of the inaugural All-Island Circular Venture Awards held on Thursday, November 27th at ESB’s Event Space in Dublin.

Open to late-stage start-ups and ventures across the island of Ireland, the Awards are designed to recognise companies pioneering the emergence of the circular economy sector by enabling or demonstrating a circular value proposition. 

Minister of State with responsibility for Circular Economy Alan Dillon TD delivered an enthusiastic opening speech, saying: ‘I am very pleased to see such strong cross-sectoral circular innovations represented at these inaugural Circular Venture Awards.  The ten shortlisted companies showcase a vibrant ecosystem and emerging circular economy sector that the Government is committed to supporting.

Our 2nd Whole of Government Circular Economy Strategy emphasises mainstreaming circular business models, supporting the scale-up of reuse, repair and remanufacturing, and encouraging sharing economies. By investing in innovation and infrastructure, Ireland aims to reduce resource loss, support job creation, and embed circularity across sectors. 

Today, by celebrating circular innovations across the island of Ireland, we take steps to accelerate impact and accelerate our collective transition to a circular economy.  I would like to recognise Irish Manufacturing Research as a strategic delivery partner who is driving industry-oriented circularity and wish all shortlisted companies the best of luck with your pitches.’ 

Ten shortlisted companies, including Arcology System, Biographene Innovations Ireland, BladeBridge, Circular Food Co, Ecoroots, Gemell Technology Limited, HaPPE Earth, Harp Renewables, Integrated Materials Solutions and Kinset Limited, pitched to a high-profile audience of investors, industry leaders, policy makers, and media to compete for a prize pool of €10,000.  

With representation from an extremely broad range of sectors (commercial fitout infrastructure, construction waste management, compostable PPE, biobased production and packaging solutions; repurposed wind energy infrastructure; digital enablement of circular processes; aerobic digestion, additional manufacturing for textiles; and upcycling of food residuals) the judging panel were certainly challenged.

Mark Nodder, Joint CEO of Makers Alliance; Jamie Rowles, Partner at Regeneration.VC; Faye Walsh Drouillard, Founding & Managing Partner of WakeUp Capital; and Dr Geraldine Brennan, Director of Circular Economy Innovation at Irish Manufacturing Research, deliberated and emerged at 5 pm with a winner and two finalists.

Martina Hennessy, Assistant Secretary with responsibility for Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency at DCEE, announced HaPPE Earth as the overall winner, Gemell Technology Limited as the first finalist and Ecoroots as the second finalist.

Micheal Cassidy, CTO at Irish Manufacturing Research; Lisa O’Riordan, HaPPE Earth; Martina Hennessy, Assistant Secretary for Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency at DCEE.

Micheal Cassidy, CTO at Irish Manufacturing Research; Adam Hankin, Gemell, 1st finalist; Martina Hennessy, Assistant Secretary for Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency at DCEE.

Micheal Cassidy, CTO at Irish Manufacturing Research; Lavanya Bhandari from Ecoroots, 2nd finalist; Martina Hennessy, Assistant Secretary for Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency at DCEE.

Congratulating the companies, Ms Hennessy said: ‘I am delighted to represent my department at the 2025 All-Island Circular Venture Awards. The innovation witnessed today is exceptional, and I very much look forward to seeing all the companies involved going from strength to strength as we seek to grow the circular economy in Ireland. '

Congratulating the three companies, Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) Chief Technology Officer, Micheal Cassidy, said:

 ‘Today IMR celebrates these pioneers, and as a strategic delivery partner to the Government, we are committed to driving industrial-oriented circular innovation with many more companies like these over the coming years.’

Referring to the winner, Dr Geraldine Brennan, Director of Circular Economy Innovation at Irish Manufacturing Research, said:

“The winner of the inaugural All-Island Circular Venture Awards embodies circular innovation, circular excellence, execution strength, commercial viability and system level mpact with the persevering and pioneering vision of never giving up.”

Lisa O’Riordan from HaPPE Earth, winner of the All-Island Circular Venture Awards 2025.

All-Island Circular Venture Awards 2025 shorlisted ventures.

Images by Roger Kenny - photo@rogerkenny.ie

Media Contact: Miriam Abuin, CE Communications Coordinator, IMR

miriam.abuin@imr.ie / 0879437506

Ann Power, Powerhouse PR

ann@powerhousepr.ie / 086 3065588

About the Winner:

Cork-based HaPPE Earth make single-use PPE into a circular solution, replacing plastics with compostable materials, converting waste into fertiliser, and delivering ESG insights, cutting costs, carbon, and complexity.

About the 1st Finalist

Dublin-based Gemell Technology Limited reduce unnecessary textile waste through data-driven 3D visualisation and analytics.

About the 2nd Finalist 

Cork-based Ecoroots transforms agricultural waste into compostable mycelium packaging powered by a data-driven platform for scalable, zero-waste biomanufacturing.

About Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR)

Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) is a leading Research and Technology Organization (RTO) established in 2014 with headquarters in Dublin and a state-of-the-art facility covering 45,000 sq. ft., equipped with R&D pilot lines and development labs in Mullingar. IMR partners with industry to demystify emerging technologies, derisk adoption, and deliver real-world impact – helping businesses scale and innovate with confidence.  We bridge the gap between technology and business, ensuring companies can harness the latest advancements to drive efficiency, productivity, and sustainability. IMR have led the way in driving Irish industry awareness of the circular economy through national strategic programmes like CIRCULÉIRE and their growing circular economy RD&I portfolio (e.g. SymbioBeer, CircThread, AI4CE and CircularShift).

About CIRCULÉIRE

CIRCULÉIRE, Ireland’s first Circular Innovation Network, is designed and led by Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) and funded by the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment (DCEE). It is a dynamic, cross-sectoral public-private network dedicated to advancing circularity in Ireland. Our mission is to demystify, de-risk, and drive circular business model innovation by unlocking the potential of an Irish circular economy. Established in 2020, CIRCULÉIRE has evolved into a multi-million-euro, industry-led cross-sectoral national innovation platform. With support from Government through the Circular Economy Fund, CIRCULÉIRE has developed an expansive network comprised of over 50 industry actors (from start-ups and micro-enterprises to SMEs and multinational corporations) spanning the food and drinks, BioPharmaChem, MedTech, built environment, packaging, plastics, electronics and batteries, textiles, automotive, energy, consumer goods, sustainability consulting, second-life enabler, and financial services sectors.

About The All-Island Circular Venture Awards

The All-Island Circular Venture Awards are designed and led by Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) and funded by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE).  Open to late-stage start-ups and ventures across the island of Ireland, the Awards are designed to recognise companies pioneering the emergence of the circular economy sector by enabling or demonstrating a circular value proposition. Shortlisted companies compete for a total prize pool of €10,000, plus 1-to-1 coaching sessions with international experts in entrepreneurship and circular economy.

About the 2025 All-Island Circular Venture Shortlisted Companies

Arcology System enables adaptive, circular, and waste-free interiors through a modular, sensor-enabled construction system. 

Bio Graphene Innovations Ireland transforms agricultural waste into bio-graphene materials that decarbonise concrete, enabling seawater use, and establishing a scalable circular manufacturing model for Europe.

BladeBridge repurposes retired wind turbine blades into durable infrastructure.

Circular Food Co. recover food waste to turn into high-value ingredients.

Ecoroots transforms agricultural waste into compostable mycelium packaging powered by a data-driven platform for scalable, zero-waste biomanufacturing.

Gemell Technology Limited reduce unnecessary textile waste through data-driven 3D visualisation and analytics.

HaPPE Earth make single-use PPE into a circular solution, replacing plastics with compostable materials, converting waste into fertiliser, and delivering ESG insights, cutting costs, carbon, and complexity.

Harp Renewables supplies advanced, fully circular food waste solutions for all industries.

Integrated Materials Solutions (IMS) reduces and reuses construction waste.

Kinset Limited enables circularity across the consumer goods sector (fashion, textiles, beauty, furniture, food & beverage, and homewares) through its green tech data platform.