NCAD win in Dublin City Council’s 2025 ENFUSE Finals

National College of Art and Design bring home the ENFUSE 2025 Trophy for their enterprise We Make Good!

Dublin City Council would like to announce that the team from the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) were the winners of the ENFUSE Finals 2025 for their collaboration with We Make Good. The winning team, Jacinta Caraher, Laoise Carey, Jessica Lagreid, and Oyundari Vladimir were presented with a specially commissioned trophy that will be hosted by their university for the next 12 months.

The winning project involved the students conducting research and analysis regarding the social enterprise We Make Good. The team formed insights, proposed solutions and ultimately presented a tangible plan setting out how We Make Good can expand and develop new market opportunities. 

Now in its 7th year, ENFUSE matches local SMEs, micro enterprises and social enterprises with teams of Master’s students. Teams develop and present bespoke plans to their allocated enterprises to implement and to their lecturer to assess. These plans outline ways for the business to address challenges they face and develop competitive opportunities to expand. The initiative is co-led by Dublin City Council and Local Enterprise Office Dublin City in collaboration with TU Dublin, DCU, NCAD, UCD and TCD and is supported by and involves numerous regional stakeholders all aligned to the ambitions of the Dublin Regional Enterprise Plan to 2025.

Overall, 8 student teams competed at this year’s ENFUSE Finals by pitching to expert industry judges on the plans they produced. The 8 teams were shortlisted from a total of 82 teams that participated in ENFUSE 2025. The top three teams won specialist mentoring and training supports from the Local Enterprise Office and supports from the Dublin Regional Skills Forum for their allocated enterprises along with prizes from Dublin Brand. 

The top 3 teams at the ENFUSE Finals 2025 were:

1st Place

Team: Jacinta Caraher, Laoise Carey, Jessica Lagreid, & Oyundari Vladimir

Client Enterprise: We Make Good

Lecturer: Jessica Hayden

University/College: NCAD

2nd Place

Team: Hannah Walters, Georgi Dan & Ashley Shak

Client Enterprise: Shock of Grey

Lecturer: Jessica Hayden

University/College: NCAD

3rd Place

Team: Olivia Farrell, David O’Dowd, Falguni Nalge, Gbenga James Idowu, Karl Viio, & Lingxi Jin

Client Enterprise: Carton Interiors

Lecturer: Joe Houghton

University/College: UCD

Speaking on the night, Councillor Ray Cunningham, representing the Lord Mayor of Dublin, said; “Tonight we celebrate the incredible work conducted by the student teams, and the impact that their plans have on the local enterprises they worked with during ENFUSE. We thank the enterprises & the lecturers who gave the students their time and experience that cumulated in the plans, ideas & insights that the students created. It is so uplifting to see a programme with such rewarding opportunities to bring the learning found in lecture halls and apply it to a real life problem.” 

ENDS

Notes to the Editor:

The ENFUSE Finals, was the culmination of this year’s ENFUSE programme which involved 461 master’s students that supported 62 local enterprises and social enterprises. ENFUSE is led by Dublin City Council (DCC) / Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Dublin City in collaboration with Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin); Dublin City University (DCU); National College of Art & Design (NCAD); University College Dublin (UCD) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD). It is supported by and operated in alignment with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, South Dublin and Fingal County Councils and their respective Local Enterprise Offices, Dublin Place Brand; the Dublin Regional Skills Forum (DRSF); Dublin Regional Enterprise Plan to 2024; Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Enterprise Ireland; GradStart and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

ENFUSE matches local enterprises and social enterprises with teams of masters level university and college students. During semester 2 (January-May) as part of a module, students work in teams typically of 3-6 members with selected enterprises. The students help provide insights, propose solutions and ultimately present a bespoke and tangible plan that sets out how the enterprise can innovate, address challenges and develop opportunities. Student teams present the plan to the enterprise to implement and to their module lecturer to assess. Students thus have the opportunity to apply their learning in a real life scenario and to support a local enterprise.

ENFUSE Aims

• Support local enterprises by providing bespoke plans to innovate, address challenges and develop opportunities
• Provide masters students with real-world consultancy and enterprise experience
• Enhance the local innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem

Further information on ENFUSE: 

https://www.localenterprise.ie/DublinCity/Enterprise-Development/ENFUSE/ 

Further information on the ENFUSE Finals: ENFUSE Finals 2025 Tickets, Thu, May 29, 2025 at 5:00 PM | Eventbrite