TLDR: Three Irish startups – Better Futures, Polliknow, and Restore Blue – have been selected to join the European Space Agency Business & Innovation Centre (ESA BIC) Ireland initiative at NovaUCD. This two-year incubation program offers up to €50,000 in seed funding, technical expertise, and access to a network of space industry leaders, supporting these companies in leveraging space data and technologies for their innovative solutions. Notably, Better Futures is an AI-focused company, and Polliknow also utilizes AI.
Dublin, Ireland – September 17, 2025 – The European Space Agency Business & Innovation Centre (ESA BIC) Ireland, based at NovaUCD, has welcomed three new innovative Irish startups into its prestigious two-year incubation program. Better Futures, Polliknow, and Restore Blue are the latest companies to join the initiative, which aims to foster the growth of businesses with a connection to space technology and data.
Each selected startup will receive up to €50,000 in seed funding, alongside invaluable access to technical expertise, specialized training, and a broad network of leaders within the space industry. This comprehensive support package is designed to help the companies further develop their products and services by utilizing space data, technologies, and assets. Collectively, the three companies are targeting to raise €3.3 million in funding over the next two years to fuel their strategic development and expansion plans.
Among the new cohort is Better Futures, an AI-focused startup founded by Anthony McLoughlin. Better Futures has developed EVA (engineering verified assistants), a platform designed for engineers and manufacturers. EVA automates tedious paperwork, such as report creation and parsing requests for quotations, thereby freeing up valuable resources and accelerating innovation within the sector. McLoughlin highlighted the pervasive issue of administrative burden in engineering, stating, “Space engineers spend up to half their day on low-level repetitive documentation tasks, and this has become an accepted norm in the industry, where they are literally drowning in paperwork.” He added, “With the breakthrough of large language models, we now have the opportunity to change that, but only if we address the current gaps in accuracy, control, and domain-specific knowledge, and that is why we built EVA. As aerospace engineers, we are proud to join the ESA BIC community and are excited to contribute to the wave of innovation now transforming the sector.” Better Futures has already garnered recognition, winning the design and manufacturing award at the 2024 Irish Times Innovation Awards and an ABB 2025 Startup Challenge Award for Generative AI in the distribution solutions category.
Polliknow, founded by Meg Brennan, also leverages artificial intelligence. This startup focuses on monitoring insect pollinator diversity and abundance, alongside other crucial environmental indicators, contributing to ecological preservation efforts.
The third company, Restore Blue, completes the trio, though specific details about its technology were not extensively detailed in the immediate announcement.
Peter Finnegan, manager of ESA Space Solutions Centre Ireland and head of new ventures at Tyndall National Institute, commented on the significance of this intake: “It is testament to the growing level of space-related activity in Ireland that we welcome another three companies into the ESA BIC Ireland network. All of these companies are engaged in innovative activity that address global problems in their respective fields. We look forward to seeing these companies scale and execute on their ambitious visions.”
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The inclusion of these startups underscores Ireland’s burgeoning role in the European space ecosystem, fostering innovation that addresses both terrestrial and extraterrestrial challenges.
