VetPal wins Enterprise Ireland Start‑Up of the Year at Ploughing 2026

# Quick summary

# What happened at Ploughing 2026 Arena staged live pitching and awarded winners across four categories: Start‑Up of the Year, Green Impact, Innovation Arena Champion and Young Innovator of the Year. VetPal beat finalists Monaghan's Furrow and Kerry's RT Sales to claim the main start‑up prize. Enterprise Ireland described the platform as a way to bring all participants in the animal‑health supply chain into one compliant digital workflow.

# Other winners and their solutions

• Green Impact: Terra NutriTech (Kildare) — precision‑dosing technology for grazing livestock aiming to make methane reduction at pasture practical and measurable.
• Innovation Arena Champion: Telenostic (Kilkenny) — an AI‑powered diagnostic tool for rapid parasite detection at point of care, intended to reduce reliance on lab testing.
• Young Innovator of the Year: MastiTrak (Munster Technological University) — a mastitis detection system designed to improve welfare, reduce milk waste and cut antibiotic use.

# Why VetPal's win matters VetPal's focus is operational: digitising prescription management across the animal‑health supply chain and linking to the national veterinary prescription system addresses compliance and traceability. The solution targets multiple stakeholders (farmers, vets, co‑ops, merchants and pharmacies) rather than a single user group, which is central to reducing prescription friction and improving record keeping.

# Context on Irish agritech Enterprise Ireland reported that the agritech companies it supports recorded €844 million in exports in 2025 and employ more than 5,000 people in Ireland. Government and agency leaders present at the event framed the Innovation Arena as a platform for showcasing practical solutions to productivity, sustainability and competitiveness challenges in agriculture. Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke and EI CEO Jenny Melia commented on the role of innovation and regional companies in the sector.

# Practical takeaways for readers

• VetPal is a commercial start‑up focused on digital prescription workflows and national system integration — a solution for compliance and supply‑chain coordination.
• Arena highlights technologies aimed at on‑farm emissions, animal health diagnostics, and disease detection, indicating current market focus areas: emissions reduction, rapid diagnostics and reduced antibiotic use.
• Winning EI support and visibility at Ploughing can provide startups with funding, profile and potential routes to market through engagement with farmers and industry stakeholders.

# Bottom line VetPal's prize signals investor and institutional interest in practical, compliance‑focused digital tools for animal health. The other winners show parallel momentum in pasture methane mitigation, point‑of‑care diagnostics, and student‑led animal‑health technologies.