This is an intensive 4-week accelerator programme for student entrepreneurs at University College Dublin (UCD).
A Prestigious Award and Prize
Following final pitches to a judging panel at the end of the competition, Athena was named the winner of the €3k NovaUCD One to Watch Prize, sponsored by Terra Solar.
Innovative AI Coaching Tailored for Success
Athena, founded by Zander Deans-Xiao, who recently completed a BSc in Economics and Finance at UCD’s Lochlann Quinn School of Business, is developing a hyper-personalised, recruiter-trained AI tool that adapts to both the candidate and the job, helping candidates show up as their most confident, authentic selves in high-stakes interviews.
Founder’s Vision: Confidence and Authenticity
Zander Deans-Xiao said, “It is a great honour for Athena to have been named the winner of the One to Watch prize at the conclusion of this year’s NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition 2025, especially as the pitches delivered by my fellow programme participants were excellent and of a very high standard.”
He added, “Athena’s initial focus is on business, economics, and STEM students in Ireland and the UK applying for competitive finance and consulting roles. By combining generative AI with recruiter-informed insights, our platform delivers highly personalized, role-specific coaching. But Athena’s deeper mission goes beyond performance, it’s about helping candidates find clarity, confidence, and their authentic voice in moments that shape their future. We believe scalable AI should make people more human, not less.
Our current go-to-market strategy includes university partnerships, student society demos, and recruiter pilots and our aim is to empower students to confidently showcase their unique strengths without compromising authenticity.”
Funding and Growth Ambitions
He concluded, “With a working prototype, we are currently looking to raise €60k to enhance our AI model and to develop partnerships. We are seeking mentorship and introductions to educational institutions and recruitment agencies which will be invaluable in building our credibility, validating product-market fit and preparing for growth. At its core, Athena is more than technology. It’s a belief that confidence doesn’t come from rehearsal, it comes from clarity, clarity of who you are, and the courage to stand behind it.”
Supporting Student Entrepreneurs at UCD
The annual NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition 2025 is delivered as a framework to mentor and support UCD undergraduate and postgraduate students who want to develop and grow start-ups.
A Growing Legacy of Innovation
Ten early-stage student ventures and 20 participants completed this year’s programme. Over the last 11 years, 90+ early-stage ventures and 220 students have completed the NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition.
Industry Leaders Praise the Competition
Liam Cronin, Director of Innovation, UCD, said, “A key objective of the NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition 2025 is to provide the students with the skills, the confidence, and the opportunity to further develop their business ideas and hopefully in time launch their start-ups in Ireland and even internationally. The final pitches delivered by the enthusiastic students, on a range of business ideas from sustainable agriculture to robotics to edtech to healthtech were all excellent, and I would like to congratulate all the participants for successfully completing the accelerator programme. I would especially like to congratulate Athena on being named the overall winner of this year’s programme and I wish Zander every success as he progresses his new venture in the months ahead.”
A Comprehensive Accelerator Programme
The 4-week programme, which uses the Lean Startup and Business Model Canvas approach, included a series of structured and interactive workshops delivered by Raomal Perera and Caitlin Hafer from Lean Disruptor. Topics such as customer development; value proposition; working in teams; design thinking; prototyping, environment mapping; financial planning and effective fundraising and pitching, were covered.
Esteemed Judging Panel for NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition 2025
The judging panel comprised Richard Twohig, Operations Director at Terra Solar; Weili Wang, Senior Investment Associate at Atlantic Bridge; Liv Torfeldt, intern at Atlantic Bridge; Anton Pluschke, Senior Commercialisation Specialist at Enterprise Ireland; and Liam Cronin, Director of Innovation, UCD (chair).
