Pictured are participating students on the Stripe YSTE Business Bootcamp at Stripe’s Dublin Office.
– Stripe’s Dublin Office and NovaUCD have opened their doors to Ireland’s next generation of innovators as the Stripe Young Scientist Business Bootcamp kicks off today, Monday 20, until Thursday 23 April 2026
– 30 students from 19 schools across 11 counties will take part in immersive, hands-on workshops and in-person learning sessions, including several new modules introduced for 2026
– Students will have the opportunity to network with top tech leaders, including Aine Kerr and Marc Cummins, as well as pitch their projects to an expert judging panel
The Stripe Young Scientist Business Bootcamp, delivered in partnership with NovaUCD, kicked off today, welcoming 30 participants from the 2026 Stripe YSTE to a four‑day entrepreneurship programme. Designed to educate students on where their creativity can meet commercial impact and envision a future where their ideas can drive real change.
Throughout the week, student teams will be assigned a project challenge built on the foundations of a peer’s (opens in a new window)Stripe YSTE project and corresponding areas of research at University College Dublin (UCD).
Working together, they will define the core problem and pitch their potential solution to a panel of judges at the end of the programme. The winning team will be announced this Thursday (23 April) and will be awarded the Stripe Business Bootcamp trophy.
Alongside their project challenges, students will take part in a range of workshops, seminars, and presentations held across Stripe’s Dublin office and at NovaUCD. New sessions for this year’s Bootcamp include frameworks for selling, storytelling for business pitches, and confidence‑building and presentation skills. Students will also benefit from ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions exploring a variety of career paths, and will hear from experienced speakers, mentors, founders, and industry leaders, including Aine Kerr and Marc Cummins.
Speaking about this year’s Business Bootcamp, Eileen O’Mara, chief revenue officer at Stripe, said, “We’re thrilled to welcome such an inspiring group of young innovators to our Dublin office for the Stripe Business Bootcamp. This week is all about providing students with the practical, real-world insights they need to transform their boldest ideas into reality. With Stripe’s deep Irish roots, hosting this programme in partnership with NovaUCD is especially meaningful to us.”
Dr Tony Scott, Co-Founder of the Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition
Dr Tony Scott, Co-Founder of the Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition said, “The continuation of the Business Bootcamp is a tremendous extension of the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition. It gives students the chance to take their ideas far beyond the classroom and explore what it truly takes to bring them into existence. The enthusiasm, creativity, and ambition they show is incredibly inspiring, and programmes like this are vital in nurturing the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. We are delighted to continue our partnership with Stripe and NovaUCD in delivering these opportunities for students across Ireland.”
Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition continues its partnership with NovaUCD on this programme. NovaUCD is the hub of innovation and start-up activities at UCD. Opened in 2003 and named by the FT as one of Europe’s Leading Start-Up Hubs for the last three years in a row, NovaUCD is dedicated to fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship throughout UCD, including with the student community.
ENDS
20 April 2026
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, UCD Research and Innovation, NovaUCD, e: (opens in a new window)miceal.whelan@ucd.ie or David Higgins/Erica Brown, Teneo, e: (opens in a new window)stripeyste@teneo.com.
Editors Notes
The Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition is designed to raise schools’ engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. The exhibition invites students aged 12-19 years from all over the island of Ireland to showcase innovative science and technology projects.
Founded by Dr Tony Scott and Rev Dr Tom Burke in 1965, the exhibition is a staple in the academic, scientific, and technological calendar, and attracts on average over 40,000 visitors, making it one of the biggest events of its kind.
Stripe succeeded BT Ireland as the title sponsor of the exhibition in May 2025. The appointment came exactly two decades after Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison competed at the 2005 YSTE, where Patrick was crowned the overall winner, and John took home a category award. (opens in a new window)https://stripeyste.com/
Stripe is building programmable financial services for businesses. Millions of companies globally use Stripe to accept payments online and in person, embed financial services, power custom revenue models, and build a more profitable business.
Headquartered in San Francisco and Dublin, Stripe processes over $1.4 trillion of payments annually, equivalent to 1.3% of global GDP. Stripe users include half of the Fortune 100, 80% of the Forbes Cloud 100 and every single company on the Forbes AI 50 that accepts online payments does so with Stripe.
Through its scale and investments in R&D, particularly artificial intelligence and stablecoins, Stripe accelerates the utility of frontier technology across Ireland and the global economy.
During the last 20+ years NovaUCD, one of Europe’s leading start-up hubs, has developed an excellent and expanded infrastructure and a suite of comprehensive business support programmes, dedicated accelerator programmes, and an ecosystem of mentors, investors and industry partners that help to nurture an enthusiastic and dynamic community of start-ups and established companies, to grow and scale on the global stage. The Young Scientist Business Bootcamp was developed by BT Ireland in collaboration with NovaUCD. (opens in a new window)www.novaucd.ie
YSTE Ltd is a charity with a proud heritage of inspiring generations of young people to engage with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Through our flagship Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition and related programmes, we provide a platform for students to showcase their creativity, innovation, and problem‑solving skills. Our mission is to nurture curiosity, empower youth, and celebrate the role of STEM in shaping a better future.
YSTE Ltd also engages internationally through partnerships with organisations in other countries, supporting the extension and sharing of the Irish Young Scientist model and enabling international collaboration in STEM education.
YSTE Ltd is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is governed in accordance with the Companies Act 2014 and the Charities Governance Code.