Castlewellan farmer makes ‘The Ultimate Pitch’ for tech investment

Winner of the local Newry, Mourne and Down heat will progress to Go Succeed: The Ultimate Pitch Final

A Castlewellan entrepreneur has wowed judges at the Newry, Mourne and Down Ultimate Pitch final, securing their place in the final with their mobile app designed to digitise and streamline agricultural tasks.

Ben O’Connor secured £1,000 in investment for their business idea, FarmFlow, and a place in the regional Ultimate Pitch Final in November, where they’ll pitch for an additional £5,000 to grow their budding business.

The pitching competition is organised by the government-backed enterprise support service, Go Succeed.

Growing up on a dairy farm, Ben experienced first-hand the overreliance on memory, paper notebooks and Groupchat messages to manage daily farming tasks. The resultant stress, disorganisation and expensive mistakes motivated him to build his mobile app, FarmFlow, with the goal of bringing all that scattered data into one fast, digital platform.

They were among 10 entrepreneurs from across the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area to pitch at the local heat of Go Succeed: The Ultimate Pitch, held in the Downshire Civic Centre, Downpatrick.

Among them was Niall Brown who won the Inclusive Entrepreneurship award for his business idea, Inclusive Adventures, a community organisation designed to bring people together through movement; Georgia Heaney who won the Rising Star award for her business Breadly, an AI personal finance agent; and Alison Wilson of Silent Cuts, an inclusive social enterprise which provides hairdressing for those with additional needs.

Councillor Glyn Hanna, Chairperson of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, said:

“We are tremendously proud of all those who both submitted an entry and made it to the local heat final. One of the hardest parts of entrepreneurship is having the confidence to make that first step and we’re incredibly proud that Go Succeed: The Ultimate Pitch provides the platform to do just that.

“Congratulations to all who took part, and to Ben, what an achievement! We can’t wait to see you pitch at the final in November.”

Heat winners from each of Northern Ireland’s 11 councils will progress to The Ultimate Pitch regional final in Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy, Co. Derry on 18^th November.

The overall winner who will receive the Go Succeed Ultimate Pitch Award, will also receive a prize package including a photography session supplied by Brian Thompson Photography, a podcast recording session supplied by Attention X Studio NI, membership of Toastmasters, and a media training session supplied by LK Communications.

Subcategory prizes will include the Go Succeed Social Impact Award, the Go Succeed Inclusive Entrepreneurship Award, the Go Succeed Rising Star Award for the most inspiring 16-25 year-old entrepreneur, and the Go Succeed People’s Choice Award for the contestant with the most public votes. Each winner will receive £1,500 towards their business idea.

Go Succeed (www.go-succeed.com) is funded by the UK Government and delivered by Northern Ireland’s 11 councils. The service supports entrepreneurs, new starts and existing businesses with easy-to-access advice and support – including mentoring, masterclasses, peer networks, access to grant funding and business planning – at every stage of their growth journey.