DkIT business students flourish at national Student Inc competition
DkIT Business and Management student Bobbie Gamble has been named runner-up for the Best Pitch in the national Student Inc. programme, following a summer spent developing his student-focused jobs platform, ORBITS.
Bobbie was one of four DkIT students selected to participate in the accelerator programme, which supports aspiring student entrepreneurs through mentoring, training, networking opportunities and seed funding. The programme brought together 55 students from eight higher education institutions across Ireland to develop and validate innovative business ideas. Topics among this year’s ideas included healthcare, agriculture, accessibility, employment, education, sustainability and entertainment.
Niamh Murphy (MBS in Responsible Entrepreneurship), Adam Matthews (MBS in Responsible Entrepreneurship) and Oliver Gormley (Masters in Entrepreneurship and Marketing) were also among the DkIT students who spent the summer developing their new business ideas through the Student Inc programme.
The DkIT participants worked closely with DkIT’s Regional Development Centre (RDC) to develop their innovations.
Each student went through a comprehensive support programme of validation for their business idea, speaking with customers and suppliers and pitching their idea to external investor panels with a view to determine the commercial feasibility of the business.
The programme culminated with a showcase event in MTU Cork where students came together for networking and competition. Adam Matthews displayed his business idea, Hintr, a mental health and wellbeing app that provides users with support resources and signposts them to appropriate services when needed. Oliver Gormley spoke to attendees about his idea, VIEW, an indoor navigation solution designed to support people who are blind or living with sight loss. Oliver formed this idea with teammates during the DkIT Hackathon for the SDGs held earlier in the year.
Niamh Murphy and Bobbie Gamble were then both selected to pitch to the entire audience.
Niamh shared details of her initiative, One Parent Matters, a support service and app for single parents in Ireland struggling to navigate State Supports amid varying challenges (children with special needs, family courts, etc).
Explaining the inspiration behind her idea, Niamh said:
“It came from my own lived experience. I have been a single mum for 13 years, raising four children, and alongside that I have spent over a decade navigating family law, healthcare, co-parenting, returning to education, navigating social welfare and being a family carer, while also managing my own mental health. I kept seeing the same gap, there is no single, trusted place for single/one parent families in Ireland to get guidance on specific entitlements or peer support from people who have actually been there.”
Inspired by her own experience, in May 2026, through the Master’s in Responsible Entrepreneurship programme at DkIT, Niamh started One Parent Matters to try to close that gap for other single parents.
A call by DkIT lecturer Garrett Duffy for budding entrepreneurs to apply for the Student Inc programme seemed like the perfect opportunity to put her business idea into action.
“The programme gave me a map to actually build One Parent Matters rather than just study it. It was a huge amount of the early-stage work at the beginning of Student Inc. and through customer discovery interviews with over 20 single parents and sector professionals I validated the problem I knew was out there.”
The initial research was supported by mentoring sessions which helped Niamh refine her business model, and plan how to map out a route to market for her product. Working with like-minded people through the Student Inc programme was another huge motivator for Niamh
“The programme has changed my life and I am so grateful for the whole experience,” she said. “We got to meet business experts and mentors on the programme we never would have met if we did not apply to the programme, they gave me the tools to start my business now".
Bobbie also presented his idea ORBITS, a jobs marketplace app, designed for students in third-level education. It’s a dual-sided platform, so both students and businesses can create a profile. The platform matches students with suitable employment opportunities based on their location, availability and skills.
“The idea of ORBITS came about while looking for work placement as part of my course. I built the company throughout the summer, getting it registered as a Limited Company and upgrading features to suit the market demand. Instead of designing it just for internships, I added features for Part-Time, Full-Time and Seasonal work also, to ensure there was something for everyone!”
Following the presentations, Bobbie was announced as the overall runner-up for the Best Pitch.
“To be named one of the final 11 was fantastic,” he said. “I got to share the workings and benefits of ORBITS and also the businesses and opportunities now available to students with everyone in attendance. I was thrilled to be awarded second prize; it has given me confidence for the future of ORBITS and a push to grow it further! “
The end of the Student Inc Competition only marks the beginning of the road for both One Parent Matters and ORBITS. Niamh has been accepted into the Ambition Female Accelerator with LEO Donegal starting this month, continuing the momentum from both her Masters and Student Inc. ORBITS has also been named as a finalist in the Dundalk Chamber Louth Business Awards, under the “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” category, alongside Bobbie’s other company 17 Events.
