Sligo founder brings home national award as West of Ireland start-ups shine at Prep4Seed Investor…

WestBIC is an Enterprise Ireland partner providing hands-on startup support, funding readiness and investment preparation for early-stage founders in the west of Ireland.

Sligo founder brings home national award as West of Ireland start-ups shine at Prep4Seed Investor Day

By Colleen Baxter 11th June 2026

Sligo founder Sarah Cosgrove has brought home a national award after her company, Restore Blue, was named One to Watch at this week’s Prep4Seed Investor Day in Dublin. Restore Blue is an AI-powered software platform that helps offshore and coastal developers embed biodiversity protection directly into project design. The award caps a 12-week investor-readiness journey delivered by the Irish Business Innovation Centres (BICs), including WestBIC, in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland.

Sarah Cosgrove, CEO and Founder of Restore Blue, said: “Being recognised with the One to Watch Award means a great deal to us and it is a testament to the hard work our team invests daily. The BICs and Enterprise Ireland have built something that meets early-stage founders exactly where they are — the expertise and one-to-one support we received through Prep4Seed would be hard to find anywhere else at this stage. The programme challenged us to pressure-test every aspect of our business and present it with real clarity and conviction. We came in with a strong idea; we leave investor-ready and confident about the funding conversations ahead.”

Mary Ryan, Deputy CEO of WestBIC, said: “Prep4Seed exists because securing investment is one of the hardest steps a founder takes, and it is a step no founder should take alone. As the four Irish BICs, we work side by side with these companies in their regions every day, and this programme allows us to bring that hands-on support together at a national level in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland. We congratulate today’s award winners and the full cohort, and we look forward to seeing where they go next.”

The Best Pitch Award went to Fire & 5th, an Irish-made, female-founded range of dedicated non-alcoholic aperitifs, in recognition of its compelling presentation.

Prep4Seed is delivered twice yearly by the four Irish BICs (AxisBIC, Furthr, Propelor BIC and WestBIC) in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland. Over twelve weeks, participants took part in five masterclasses and a series of tailored one-to-one sessions with BIC consultants, supported by intensive pitch preparation and trial pitches. The programme brings founders through a focused investor-readiness journey, from first principles to a confident pitch and a clear path to funding.

The 2026 cohort reflects strong regional breadth and sector diversity across Digital Technologies, Enterprise Solutions, Food Tech & Food FDI, FinTech & Financial Services and Life Sciences & HealthTech. The 11 participating companies are:

Ascension Digital Services / Biovit Technologies / Capisso / Chuzeday / Cybervigil Pro / Fire&5th / Flexible Power Solutions / Restore Blue / Unturn / Veloton / Weighless Wonders