From left to right: Nathan O'Reilly, the founder of Citi upStart in 2011, this year's winning team members, Erika Rocha Berthely and Emilio Yoltic Martinez Gutierrez, and Dr Prag Sharma, Head of Citi's Global Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence

Congratulations to this year’s winning team. Small but mighty, Erika Rocha Berthely and Emilio Yoltic Martinez Gutierrez highly impressed the panel with their pitch. Go2Grow.ai turns visa restrictions into competitive advantage by connecting startups with corporate-trained international students who implement enterprise tools through risk-free 3-month trials. They generate recurring revenue through software licenses, placement fees, and training programs. Their MVP has delivered 20+ successful placements with 85% trial-to-hire conversion across 7 Enterprise Ireland-backed startups. No sponsorship commitment, no hiring risk, just proven talent ready to execute.

About Citi upStart:
The upStart programme was launched in 2011 by Citi Ireland and Citi Belfast to connect student start-up teams with Citi mentors, supporting the development of their start-up ideas as part of their master’s degrees. Initially run at Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast, the programme expanded to five universities across Ireland and Northern Ireland: Trinity College Dublin, University of Limerick, National College of Ireland, Queen’s University Belfast, and Ulster University. The programme was paused in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the 6th of November 2024, Citi upStart was relaunched as a joint initiative between NCI and Citi, co-led by Dr Prag Sharma (Citi) and Dr Anu Sahni (NCI).
Citi upStart has run annually, attracting top postgraduate computing students from across the island of Ireland. Staying in step with the trends, this year’s programme culminated in a Dragons Den event at Citi on the 24th of September 2025. 

About the Citi upStart Dragons Den:
At the event, opened by Davinia Conlan, Citi Country Officer Ireland and Professor Gina Quin, President of NCI, select finalist teams pitched their ideas.The participants had quite an impressive journey, starting at in-house hackathons, only the strongest proposals from master’s programmes progressed. Over the course of an entire academic year, these winning team members were given the prestigious opportunity to work with highly skilled Citi mentors. Through the academic year, these talented teams worked to develop start-up business plans, leveraging cutting-edge technology. At the Dragons Den event that took place on Sep 24th, each business plan was evaluated by a distinguished panel of industry experts against criteria measuring both originality and market potential.

After their pitch presentations, competitors faced strict interrogation from a panel of expert judges. Putting the students through their paces on technological, financial and sustainable feasibility were Claire Chung, Managing Director of Citi, Dave Feenan, Director of Technology Ireland ICT, Deirdre O’Neill, Senior Client Adviser, Life Sciences & Health Tech Dept, Enterprise Ireland, Gabriel Dombri, Product Advisor & Angel Investor, Salt & Pepper, and Georgina Lupu Florian, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Wolfpack Digital, who also shared their insights, providing fresh perspectives on how to best exploit the inventiveness on display. Dousing their fire-breathing ability, our Dragons later joined the students for networking and pizza.

“NCI greatly values our long-standing relationship with Citi, which continues to open doors for our students and staff. Together we’re advancing innovation in education and industry, with a shared commitment to sustainability. These awards highlight how collaboration can spark new ideas that shape the future of technology in ways that benefit both society and the environment.”  
~ Professor Paul Stynes, Dean of NCI’s School of Computing

“I’m so proud of our NCI computing master’s students, who participated in Citi upStart this year. I congratulate the winners and all teams for the yearlong hard work they have done to be here today. What Citi has done in facilitating this level of mentorship is fantastic. They are giving back to the sector and underpinning the future. I also think our ‘dragons’ deserve recognition of the time they give to encourage and advise the next generation of technologists.” 
~ Dr Anu Sahni, Assistant Professor in NCI’s School of Computing

“The Citi upStart program truly embodies our commitment to fostering innovation and nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurial talent. Seeing the dedication and groundbreaking ideas from these postgraduate students, supported by our mentors, reaffirms the vital role this initiative plays in bridging academia with real-world challenges. We are incredibly proud to see the program thrive, empowering bright minds to shape the future.” 
~ Dr Prag Sharma, Head of Citi's Global Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence

We would like to extend our congratulations to all the finalists who presented at the Citi upStart Dragons Den:

At National College of Ireland, we would like to congratulate not only this year’s awardees, but all finalists as to make it through to the Dragons Den stage of Citi upStart is an achievement in itself and a testament to the hard work, bright ideas and ambitious drive that fuelled students through their academic year as they also worked with Citi mentors and continued to build their professional network. At National College of Ireland, we would like to congratulate not only this year’s awardees, but all finalists as to make it through to the Dragons Den stage of Citi upStart is an achievement in itself and a testament to the hard work, bright ideas and ambitious drive that fuelled students through their academic year as they also worked with Citi mentors and continued to build their professional network. President of NCI, Professor Gina Quin, remarked that the process almost acted like an apprenticeship, as the 'real world' experience delivered to the students by the mentors was so valuable; the winners of the competition stage have truly earned congratulations.

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