– Donegal Native,
– NUIG Science Graduate,
– CIT Mechanical Engineering Student,
– Serial Entrepreneur (founder of Hexafly and TUNIC)
– Prize for Innovation 2019 Winner
Patrick McGarvey has many notches on his belt and continues to work towards bigger and bolder goals and successes.
But what can we learn from Patrick’s achievements, his drive and his insights?
EDUCATION
For Patrick one of the biggest contributions to his success was his approach to the education system and the understanding he has of the opportunities that present themselves.
He saw that education spans far wider than the information afforded to you in your classes. It’s the people around you and the experiences that you endure that makes your education complete.
“When I was in college in Galway, I ended up hanging around with friends studying Arts and Business and Finance. Just from hanging out and living with them in college, i’d see a different viewpoint on every subject rather than just going into science and just hanging out with science students”
It is up to the individual to take ownership of their experiences and use the education system in a way that will benefit personal progression. Patrick urges students to break that mold and make the most of what’s on offer.
“I suppose the whole purpose of the education system is to provide employees for the workforce That’s how the education system sees itself, rather than to go work for yourself. But, the support that is available from the government and programmes available here in CIT and most other colleges is really underutilized by the student population”
Having completed his undergraduate degree in Science in NUIG, Patrick was offered a job in Scotland in the field of biotechnology.
He didn’t want to move to Scotland and so took his career into his own hands and founded his first company Hexafly. A frightening first step for anyone but the supports in place made this transition a positive and successful one.
NEW FRONTIERS
“Taking the first step, I imagined it to be far more difficult than it actually turned out to be”
Patrick brought his early stage business into a programme called New Frontiers. This is a programme funded by Enterprise Ireland designed to develop early stage start-ups.
“For someone coming from a scientific or technical background going into the business world, that was a very good introduction to how it operates. It’s well funded and well organised so it’s a very good step in from a technical background”
Patrick was able to use what he has learned in college and apply it in a business context through the New Frontiers programme.
“It’s not just financial support, they will also guide you step by step of what you need to do”
With his college degree, a successful start-up and entrepreneurial training under his belt Patrick knew what he wanted to do.
He wanted to merge his love of science and sustainability with innovation invention and industrial application and this brought him to Mechanical Engineering in Cork Institute of Technology.
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING IN CIT
“I like the Innovation side of Mechanical Engineering and the industrial application. With both companies that I have been involved in there has been a common element in both. It is the environmentally friendly aspect of it but also the industrial job creation element so Mechanical Engineering sort of satisfies both…It’s an exciting place to be, on the cutting edge of science and transferring it to Industry”
Where many people who have founded a successful business would see it as a regression to return to full-time education, Patrick sees only the opportunities. He made it his business to find a place that nurtures his entrepreneurial talent as well as providing him with the education needed to make these businesses successful.
“I’ve done bits and pieces around the country in different colleges but the campus here is hands down the most busy campus. There’s always something going on and it’s always well attended. It’s always active. I can’t say enough about CIT.”
It was in CIT that Patrick then began to develop his award winning business TUNIC.
TUNIC
“The first thing that we wanted to address is the reliance or the over reliance on antibiotics in the animal feed industry. Not so much here in Ireland, the standard that we have here for animal care is unbelievable but internationally, especially in the US and other places where there is more intensive farming, there’d be a lot of cows who have never seen a blade of grass.
So, they’re basically fed antibiotics in their diet and it’s just part of their normal diet. The more you use antibiotics, the less effective that they become so the process that we developed is a natural solution to that.
The compound that we are interested in is called Beta Glucan as an autoimmune system improver in animals and in people from a natural source as well. It’s not only good for the immune system but it’s also good for the gut bacteria in all sorts of animals.
That’s the first issue addressed I suppose and then there is a co-product alongside that, that is a protein supplement that we can produce from the same process. There is growing demand around the world for animal feed proteins aswell and as more and more people are being lifted out of poverty there is a bigger demand for better quality food.
That’s a global issue as well and the idea is that the process that we developed can be applied anywhere around the world. And what’s unique about our process is that we are energy efficient which makes it financially viable.
The name TUNIC actually came from another angle that we were looking at involving bio-plastics the one that we were looking at was called Chitan and the translation from Greek is TUNIC because it was discovered in ancient Greece.”
It is with this newest business that Patrick won CIT’s Prize for Innovation 2019.
But its doesn’t stop there.
“The next step for TUNIC I suppose is engaging with other third parties who are interested be that other businesses or Government organisations, It would be further engagement with international companies and further process development and refine that back to a fine T”
Patrick’s drive and passion for what he does is undeniable and a successful future seems inevitable for someone with such determination but what is his key to Entrepreneurial Success?
ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS
“Take the first step, you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. The wonder of it is that you can start off doing it as one hour a week if that’s what you want and you’ll more than likely you’ll find yourself getting dragged in and then before you know it, it’s the thing that your getting yourself out of the bed in the morning for”
Many people fear the all or nothing approach to starting your own business but Patrick emphasizes how this definitely is not the case.
Keeping your education and your side hobbies or even full time jobs is not only beneficial but can actually aid entrepreneurship.
“And if you are working another job, the experience gained there is guaranteed to be in some way applicable across the board. Steve Jobbs, before he was in Apple had odd jobs here and there and one of his hobbies was calligraphy. So he did a course in it and enjoyed it but he thought ‘what is that ever going to be useful for?’ and now, font is one of Apple’s biggest selling points”
Patrick McGarvey is a living example of the benefit of taking that first step on your entrepreneurial journey.
“ Taking the first step is the biggest hurdle..Once you’re in a bit, once you’re down stream a bit, you’ll start seeing ideas everywhere..It’s addictive, it grows and it takes a life of its own”
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If you are interested in TUNIC or would like to speak with Patrick you can contact him at;
businessdevelopment@tunic.ie
