Five brilliant women-led businesses from Northern Ireland are making waves on the UK stage as finalists in the prestigious WE Innovate competition, with the final taking place in London tomorrow. Up for grabs is a £30,000 prize fund, with the programme and competition delivered by Imperial College London and Queen’s.
Each of these entrepreneurs is combining personal experience with professional expertise to solve real-world problems.
One of the most interesting businesses is RoutineRoo, founded by Pauline Timoney, who is turning bedtime battles into empowering routines for children.
After struggling to settle her toddler every night, Pauline – a mum of three and tech leader – used visual storyboards to help her daughter navigate daily routines. The transformation was instant. Seeing the effectiveness of this approach, she teamed up with former colleague Kristina to build RoutineRoo: an AI-powered tool blending behavioural science and personalised avatars to make routines fun, structured and stress-free for families.
Pauline’s business is already helping busy parents, especially those raising children with additional needs, transforming daily routine pain points (getting ready for bed, getting out of the house, transitions etc) into engaging, structured, and rewarding experiences. By combining behavioural science with AI-generated avatars, their physical and digital boards support children in developing independence and reduce stress for families – see attached images of the RoutineRoo tool.
Also representing NI on the UK-wide stage:
Blending music, innovation and emerging psychedelic therapies, Iaso is transforming mental health recovery through a digital healthtech platform.
A pioneering endoscopy training simulator developed by nursing experts at Queen’s to improve patient safety and save NHS training costs.
From family scrapbooks to cutting-edge AI – this Derry-based founder is helping users build secure, story-rich personal archives.
Dainty Grace is a body-positive lingerie brand offering properly fitting bras for small-chested women in hard-to-find sizes.
Source: Written from Press Release
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