Setanta Space has won the One to Watch Award at the final investor showcase of University College Dublin's 2026 AI Ecosystem Accelerator. The programme's 10 participating start-ups are collectively seeking €17 million in pre-seed and seed funding.
The award was announced at NovaUCD, where the companies pitched to investors, industry representatives and a judging panel at the end of the six-month programme. Delivered by NovaUCD in partnership with CeADAR, Ireland's Centre for Applied AI, the accelerator focused on helping AI-first start-ups build commercial traction and prepare for fundraising.
Setanta Space, founded by James Murphy and Adam Taylor in 2025, develops AI software and modular onboard computing hardware for satellites and spacecraft. The Dublin-based business is also part of ESA BIC Ireland, a two-year incubation initiative for Irish space-related start-ups.
The company is raising a €2 million pre-seed round to launch a new software tool called Vertis. It is designed to help specialist engineers deploy AI on satellites, drones and other resilient systems more quickly.
"I am delighted and thrilled that Setanta Space was named winner of the One to Watch Award at the end of the 2026 AI Ecosystem Accelerator programme, especially given the calibre of the other participating start-ups," said James Murphy, Founder and CEO of Setanta Space.
He said the company is developing Vertis to help specialist engineers deploy AI on satellites, drones and resilient systems automatically with one click, reducing a process that currently takes weeks of deployment work.
"The benefits and opportunities for this technology are really significant and include a reduction in engineering time and costs for any company using our software," Murphy said.
He added: "We are currently raising a €2 million pre-seed round to launch Vertis and bring it to market."
Programme focus
The 2026 cohort consisted of 10 start-ups with market validation or live pilots already underway and seeking investment. Alongside Setanta Space, the participants were AnotherTrip, Databuckets, Diotima, Envaira, Infralign.ai, MESO, Neuronourish, RunCommerce and Stormlands Mining.
The programme offers founders commercial, fundraising and technical support, as well as access to co-working space at NovaUCD. It also includes advice from CeADAR specialists on data strategy, model evaluation and AI deployment readiness.
Liam Cronin, Director of Innovation at UCD, said: "Congratulations to Setanta Space on being named the winner of the One to Watch Award at the end of this year's AI Ecosystem Accelerator. This year's programme focused on supporting 10 excellent and ambitious AI-first start-ups that already had market validation or live pilots underway, were seeking to accelerate traction on a global stage and were actively working to close a funding round.
"I would like to congratulate all 10 start-up teams who completed this year's programme and wish them every success in achieving their collective funding target of €17 million over the coming months."
According to UCD, 30 start-ups have now completed the three editions of the AI Ecosystem Accelerator delivered so far.
Wider backing
CeADAR provided technical support to founders during the programme. The accelerator also forms part of its European Digital Innovation Hub for AI activity, which is intended to support Irish start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses working with the technology.
"This year's accelerator featured inspirational entrepreneurs working across diverse sectors. They combined their in-depth sector knowledge with the latest AI techniques to create highly investable innovations. CeADAR has been delighted to provide technical support during their journey," said Dr John Lonsdale, Chief Executive Officer of CeADAR.
The wider European Digital Innovation Hub framework has a funding pool of €700 million from the European Commission and member state governments. In Ireland, the programme is led by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment through Enterprise Ireland.
Laura Clifford, Senior Programme Manager EDIH at Enterprise Ireland, said: "The AI Ecosystem Accelerator programme at UCD continues to play a key role in developing a strong pipeline of innovative AI-first start-ups across Ireland. Congratulations to this year's cohort, which has just completed the programme. Enterprise Ireland looks forward to continuing to support these founders, in collaboration with NovaUCD and CeADAR, as they grow and scale their start-ups."
The judging panel for the investor showcase included John Collins of Tech Operators, Simon Factor of NovaUCD, Amy Neale of Delta Partners and Cillian Sugrue of Elkstone.