The emerging Cork firms shortlisted for the Cork Chamber Company of the Year Awards
Co-founders of LegitFit Ryan O’Neill, Ian O'Sullivan and Gearóid Collins.
LegitFit, a software as a service firm for gyms and studios, was founded by three friends in 2019.
Since then, the company has raised over €1m in funding and has grown a customer base in 15 countries including Ireland, the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
LegitFit’s founders Ryan O’Neill, Gearoid Collins, and Ian O’Sullivan are starting their third year with the joint business venture as finalists in the emerging category of Cork Chamber’s Cork Company of the Year awards.
“2022 saw us grow significantly as a business and we achieved a lot as a team. This is a nice way to kick off our 2023 now as we scale to new heights,” said Mr O’Neill.
The company provides gyms, studios and independent fitness professionals with business management software. The company claims its product can save clients up to €10,000 per year.
“Its core mission is to empower fitness entrepreneurs, to optimise their time so they can focus on what really matters to them, inside or outside the business,” the company said in a statement.
LegitFit’s service manages aspects of running a fitness business including member management, scheduling, payments and communications. The company has also recently launched a website builder that helps its customers to attract and convert more inbound leads while ensuring costs for the creation of the site are manageable.
The founders grew up together in Cork but pursued different careers before reuniting to create LegitFit.
Mr O’Neill was working in the pharmaceutical industry and as a personal trainer when he bumped into Mr O’Sullivan, also a personal trainer.
The pair signed up to the business innovation initiative with University College Cork’s Ignite programme in 2017.
In the following years, the three founders have taken part in one of the world’s largest start-up accelerators, Techstars. This programme helped the company raise €550,000 in pre-seed funding.
Last September, the company raised an additional €1m in a funding round led by Irish venture capital firm Delta Partners.
“We are excited to be joining their journey as they continue to progress and expand into new markets,” said Rich Barnwell from Delta Partners at the time of the investment.
“The customer-obsessed focus of the LegitFit team and their ability to build a product that delivers what fitness business owners actually need, in a complex and rapidly evolving industry, compelled us to invest,” said Mr Barnwell.
Last August, LegitFit acquired GoFyt, a UK-based fitness marketplace company. The Cork start-up has since then been focusing on expanding further into that market.
“We have a major vision for the company here at LegitFit and, moreover, for the industry as a whole,” said Mr O’Neill at the time of the deal.
The company is headquartered in Cork, employs 25 people and has more than 100 paying customers.
Biochemist Robert Barrett spent a decade crafting and distilling premium spirits before he set-up his own
boutique distillery alongside his wife, Bhaghya, and father, Brendan, in 2020.
Rebel City Distillery is one of the
finalists of this year’s Cork Chamber Company of the Year awards, in the emerging category.
“Here at Rebel City Distillery, we are thrilled to receive this accolade, it’s a timely reward for all of our hard work since we established the company at the height of the pandemic,” the company said.
Rebel City Distillery makes gin and absinthe in the historic Ford factory, where the company employs three full-time members.
“We launched our distillery in 2020, right at the start of the pandemic, with our first product, Maharani Gin, which we make this right here in the city in an old Ford factory,” said the company.
Rebel City Distillery chose the old Ford factory as a space for its home to draw on the innovations of the past to inspire the creations of the future.
From 1917 to 1987, the factory of Henry Ford & Sons was the industrial hub of Cork city, manufacturing motor vehicles on the banks of the River Lee as one of Cork’s largest employers.
Since it was set up almost three years ago, Rebel City Distillery has established a route to market in the USA, Germany, Singapore and Sweden. The company’s spirits are widely available in Cork as well as in 100 SuperValu’s nationwide.
The company is working with a German importer and expects to ramp up activity in that market in early 2023. The company is also expanding into the market in India.
“We see India as a market of great potential where we have already received a large amount of free publicity and coverage in Kerala and in nationwide Indian press,” the company said.
“Bhaghya, who is a project manager and fluent in three of the main Indian languages, is ideally situated to help us exploit that and grow in the fast growing Indian market,” it said in a statement. Before creating the distillery, Mr Barrett worked for the Teeling family, best known for Teeling whiskey.
He also holds an MSc in brewing and distilling from the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, which counts many stalwarts of the craft drinks industry among its alumni. Mr Barrett has spent several years honing his expertise in Ireland and Canada with a number of renowned distilleries and drinks businesses.
Mrs Barrett hails from Kerala, India. A software engineer by trade, her expansive career has seen her work in the large cities including
Madrid before her move to Ireland.
“We are the home of multi award winning Maharani Gin, a contemporary style gin, a reflection of our founder’s heritage, spiced in Kerala India and handcrafted in the heart of Cork city,” said the company.
Robert’s father Brendan has an
extensive career in engineering and construction and mentored Robert in the development of the business and in the refurbishment and redevelopment of the distillery building.
Wizer Energy, a specialist contracting firm for renewable energy products, is the third company to be nominated in the emerging category of this year’s Cork Chamber Company of the Year awards.
The company, which was set up in 2020, installs around 10 solar PV systems nationwide along with up to five electric vehicle home charge points.
“Everyone at Wizer Energy is very excited to be considered for this award by Cork Chamber as we are a very dedicated team who have stood firm on providing great products and services to our clients,” the company said.
“Knowing that our ethical and positive approach to all we deal with will stand to us very well, and it does. Recognition from our local business network together with the goodwill of our clients and staff make all of the hard work needed very worthwhile,” it added in a statement.
Wizer Energy employs over 20 people, including roofing and electrical professionals to fit EV charging points and Solar PV panels to homes.
"Our staff are our greatest resource and we have filled each position within our company with a very wide range of nationalities broadening our perspective with individuals from Croatia, Argentina, Denmark, Poland, Vietnam, England and of course a few Irish also," said Wizer Energy.
"Although our work is construction, technical and widespread we take care to always represent a considerate employer prioritising the development of a happy work environment where everyone is listened to and accommodated to strengthen our harmony as a team," it said.
Wizer was formed in response to government and EU policy which created the need for accessible renewable energy services.
“Wizer have proven that they can respond to that need as we have scaled to the point we are at now and therefore can continue to build the business, team by team, which is a very sustainable way to grow a business,” the company said.
Wizer Energy was created by directors Slaven Litera and Martin Desmond. Between them they have vast experience in the renewable energy field with over 2000 domestic Solar PV installations successfully carried out in every county in Ireland since 2015.
The company’s target market is homeowners. The company has seen more interest in recent years in using renewable energy in the home as had SEAI grants have “kick started the market”.
“This once very expensive option is now much more affordable for the average working homeowner,” the company said.
“We believe we have prepared suitably for the ongoing energy crisis by minimising our overheads and maximising our operational efficiencies giving us the ability to quote lower than all others for similar PV system installations,” the company added.
The company was also a finalist in Cork Chamber's Digital Marketing Awards with its digital marketing company partner Digital Funnel.
