START Fund Winners 2025
Heat Stability Sensor
Mark Fenlon
Location: Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy
The Heat Stability Sensor project focuses on developing a novel electrochemical sensor to measure milk heat stability in real time during dairy processing. By enabling early detection of instability, the technology helps prevent costly spray dryer fouling, reduce downtime, and improve product quality.
The project aims to validate market demand, refine the commercial model, and position the technology for licensing or spin-out, supporting more efficient, data-driven quality control in the global dairy industry.
HySpec Beef
Ruth Hamill
Location: Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin
HySpec Beef is an advanced hyperspectral imaging system that delivers highly accurate, multi-trait assessment of beef carcasses from a single scan. It has the potential to support better product quality, improved specification, and enhanced food safety across the supply chain.
DNA Detect Plus
John Kenny
Location: Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy
DNA Detect Plus- Dr John Kenny, of Teagasc food research centre Moorepark is developing a novel DNA sequencing-based method for rapid high throughput detection of Listeria monocytogenes and other food pathogens, by integrating cutting-edge DNA “diagnostics” with user-friendly automated analysis, with benefits over traditional culture-based methods. Teagasc START Fund (€15,000) was awarded in July 2025, to fund a consultant to undertake a market validation and customer discovery study, to guide further technology development.
MoSt-Simple
Elodie Ruelle
Location: Teagasc AGRIP Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy
Grass growth prediction is becoming a key decision-support tool on Irish grass-based farms because it helps plan ahead when growth is highly variable. The MoSt Simpler project will develop a simplified version of the MoSt Grass Growth model to make grass growth forecasting accessible to a wider range of researchers and agtech users.