Fíoch

Fíoch, founded by sisters Abigail O’Brien Murray & Erica O’Brien Murray, and Olivia O’Shea, is an award-winning STEM startup that wants to save the Common Ash tree. The team has developed a sustainable hormone treatment to combat the effects of Ash Dieback on the ecosystem, with the goal of restoring a greener, healthier future. The founders gained recognition in 2024 for their project at the BT Young Scientist competition, where they won “Best Group Project” and the Teagasc Special Award for their work on combating ash dieback. They recently completed first year of their undergraduate programmes.

Trinity Added Value

  • Fíoch took first prize at the LaunchBox 2025 Phase 1 Demo Day, gaining a place on the Phase 2 Summer Programme
  • LaunchBox Phase 1 is structured to help student founders progress an idea into a viable business with a term-time programme that is delivered flexibly with a focus on mentorship and ideation supports
  • Prior to learning about LaunchBox, they had not considered their solution to be a sustainable business idea

Success since LaunchBox

While still in the early-stages of their business, LaunchBox allowed these founders to accelerate, with structured supports, mentorship, free legal and IP advice, and the opportunity to pitch to investors through the programme.

    • Completion of Phase 2 LaunchBox summer programme, which has allowed them to work full-time on their startup
    • Gained a place on Dogpatch Labs’ Patch accelerator programme (2025)