Last month, I had the surreal honour of pitching my startup Anaphero at the global finals of the Hult Prize, the world's largest student startup competition, often called the “Nobel Prize for students.” Out of more than 200,000 applicants from 130+ countries, we were selected among the Top 20 startups in the world, pitching for a $1 million investment. The past few months have been an incredible whirlwind, but the story behind Anaphero goes back much further to my own personal experiences.

Growing up with severe allergies, I’ve been through several life threatening allergic reactions. These experiences, as well as the constant anxiety experienced both by myself and my parents, who lived in daily fear that I might not be able to handle a life-threatening reaction without them, are what first pushed me to get involved in the allergy space, working with local, national, and international organisations to drive awareness and advocate for change.

But even with this work, I kept hearing the same devastating stories of children dying from these reactions, not because treatment did not exist but because it did not arrive in time. That’s where the idea for Anaphero was born. At Anaphero we’re developing a wearable device for early detection of life threatening anaphylaxis in children with severe allergies. Once detected, the device instantly alerts parents or onsite caregivers, whether that’s a teacher, coach, or camp counsellor, providing the child's exact location, and direct contact to emergency services, drastically improving response time.

Since launching the startup, we’ve been moving at full speed. Earlier this year, we won first place in Europe in Huawei’s Tech for Good competition and travelled to China for the global finals, where we were honoured as two-times global award winners—but it was the Hult Prize that became the biggest turning point so far.

Our journey began in January at a local campus round. From there, we progressed through regional, national, and international stages, finally earning our place among the global Top 20. That’s how I found myself flying to London to spend a month living and working at Ashridge House, a 700-year-old castle, once home to King Henry VIII. It was here that I met some of the most impressive founders I’ve ever encountered, students from Mexico, Singapore, Thailand, the Netherlands and more, each building world-changing solutions in health, climate, and education.

The month at Ashridge was intense in every way. After the opening ceremony, we got straight to work: daily mentor sessions, pitch practice, product development, investor meetings, and late-night strategy sessions. We grew partnerships, secured letters of intent, and continued iterating every part of our startup.

We were also lucky to learn from entrepreneurs who had done it before us through various fireside chat sessions. One standout session was with Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of EF Pro Cycling, who scaled a grassroots cycling team into a $300 million global organization.

As the days and weeks went on, the pace only picked up. During one of our final weeks we had the amazing opportunity to pitch at Google HQ in London, presenting to global investors and entrepreneurs. The following week was the grand finale at the Tate Modern, one of the world’s most iconic art museums. From 200,000+ participants, across 130+ countries, to one winner who would walk away with a $1 million investment.

Although we didn’t take home the $1 million prize (huge congrats to Stick ‘Em from Singapore, who won with their incredible chopstick robotics kit for STEAM education), the experience was nothing short of transformative. Over that month, we didn’t just grow our business, we redefined our purpose, sharpened our execution, and built a global support network that we’ll carry with us moving forward.

In many ways, during the entire accelerator I saw our work relating directly back to some of my learnings in the ESTEEM program. Whether we were refining our pitch for investors, structuring strategic partnerships, or refining our business model to balance financial viability with real-world impact, I found myself using a number of the tools, frameworks, and mindset I have picked up through ESTEEM.

Moving forward for Anaphero, the mission’s still the same: we’re building towards a safer future for children with severe allergies. This year, I’m doubling down on momentum. We’re pushing forward supported by an incredible network through ESTEEM and Notre Dame. There’s still a long road ahead, but we’re moving with purpose, and we’re just getting started.

Originally published by Tiarnan O'Rourke at esteem.nd.edu on October 13, 2025.