AN eyecare technology start-up has been named the best spinout of 2026 at an annual awards ceremony.
Lia EyeCare is a joint UCD and University of Galway ophthalmology spinout, which is the brainchild of Breda O’Regan and Sinéad Buckley.
The pair founded the firm in 2023 after developing their Nightleaf product – which offers a non-invasive wearable solution to address dry and sore eyes.
It won the NovaUCD Spinout of the Year Award this month, which the start-up co-founders were presented with by USD President Professor Orla Feely.
Lia EyeCare co-founders Breda O’Regan and Sinéad Buckley pictured with their NovaUCD Spin-out of the Year Award 2026. (Pic: Paul Sharp/Sharppix)The presentation was made during the annual NovaUCD Innovation Awards which took place at the UCD University Club.
“This recognition is hugely significant for Lia EyeCare as a company,” Lia EyeCare CEO O’Regan said.
“Ireland’s universities are known around the world for breakthrough innovations and their ability to support companies to translate world-class research into high-impact businesses, so it is a real honour to be chosen as NovaUCD’s Spin-out of the Year,” she added.
“This award is a really strong endorsement of our team and also the global commercial and market opportunity ahead for Nightleaf™.”
The concept for Lia EyeCare originated through the BioInnovate Ireland Programme at the University of Galway.
Further development continued at UCD with Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund support, which gave the founders access to additional clinical product validation and commercial expertise before Lia EyeCare spun-out in 2023.
Since then it has established its headquarters in Co. Cork, along with offices at NovaUCD.
It has also secured Enterprise Ireland High-Potential Start-Up (HPSU) status, and won an award at the M2D2 Challenge start-up competition hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Boston.
Everything from irishpost.com and the print edition is available on the Irish Post App — plus more! Download it for Android or Apple IOS devices today.
See More: Cork, Lia EyeCare, Spinout, UCD
