The next generation of cybersecurity entrepreneurs and leaders is being developed at Munster Technological University (MTU) through its Cyber Innovate programme. 

Applications are now open for next year’s Cyber Innovate cohort.

The next generation of cybersecurity entrepreneurs and leaders is being developed at Munster Technological University (MTU) through its Cyber Innovate programme.

This is a needs-led entrepreneurship programme, delivered over ten months, full-time at MTU Cork. The programme offers a tax-free scholarship of €39,000 to participants in addition to fess and a post-graduate diploma qualification.

The early successes of the Cyber Innovate programme have led to it being recognised, along with Ailtire, the programme’s first start-up company, in the latest Enterprise Ireland / Pitchbook report on “Ireland’s Cybersecurity Landscape”. Since completing the programme Ailtire have secured funding from a number of sources including the Local Enterprise Office, Microfinance Ireland and the Enterprise Ireland Pre-Seed Start Fund.

The first cohort have established four start-up companies to date: Ailtire – Threat Modelling Tools; DocuWill – End-of-life Planning Platform; Mulcahy-Ward – Cybersecurity Consultancy; and Resilium – Operational Technology Security Operations Centre. There is another start-up in the pipeline and one of the projects from last years has secured significant funding from Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund to develop an Incident Response solution.

This is a highly sought-after programme for mid-career professionals looking to explore opportunities for cybersecurity innovation and startups. The programme is backed by a wide range of academic and industry experts and offers a wide professional network to successful participants.

Cyber Innovate is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme 2021-27.

Working in multidisciplinary teams, the students search for cybersecurity related problems and then generate and validate new ideas for products and services which may lead to them creating new cybersecurity startups.

Director of the programme, Ronan Coleman, explains that students spend the first semester immersing themselves in a specially designed ‘Immersive Environment’, enabling them to identify cybersecurity needs.

“The ‘Immersive Environment’ is what differentiates this programme from other innovation or entrepreneurship programmes,” says Mr Coleman. This module is delivered over an eight-week period, where  students will spend two days each week visiting a partner and interviewing members of the partner’s cybersecurity team.”

“The creation of this environment is a big ask of our incredibly generous and knowledgeable industry sector partners as it necessitates a lot of pre-planning and the availability of 8+ staff members for the two-day visits. It has been enabled by MTU’s leading position in the Irish cybersecurity ecosystem. The partner companies have well-established links with MTU through its alumni, Chair of Cybersecurity and researchers, its Cyber Skills programme and the MTU-based national cybersecurity industry cluster, Cyber Ireland, of which Cyber Innovate is a member and partner.”

“The objective is that the student teams identify a real and pressing need or problem during this period, which they then go and further validate by focusing on a particular customer segment. They then try to develop a solution for that customer segment, rather than the traditional approach of having a solution or technology which is trying to find a problem or application.”

The closing date for this year’s programme, which will begin in late August, is April 13^th 2026.