The winners of Design & Crafts Council Ireland’s Irish Business Design Challenge 2024 (IBDC) were announced on Tuesday afternoon at an awards ceremony in the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The category winners, micro and small respectively, were SAMPLA, a sustainable footwear brand from Waterford and BiaSol, a family-owned food start up from Offaly and they each received a prize of €20,000.
Two runners-up, Brookfield Farm (micro), a thriving mixed organic farm in Tipperary and BladeBridge (small), a wind turbine repurposing company from Cork, welcomed prizes of €5,000 each.
58 businesses from across Ireland entered and 8 companies were shortlisted in this year’s awards. Now in its fourth year, IBDC celebrates businesses that add value, repurpose products, develop circular economy strategies, enhance efficiency, and tackle societal and environmental challenges through sustainable design.
This year’s challenge focuses on companies that have identified pressing challenges or opportunities, using design thinking or circular economy strategies to create sustainable solutions.
The Irish Business Design Challenge awards is the first event taking place in Irish Design Week 2024, a week-long programme of over 40 events nationwide, running under the theme ‘Imagination for Opportunity’.
