The first email came through on the 14th of May 2026.
“Congratulations, OvaCyte has been shortlisted for the 2026 Innovation Arena Awards at the National Ploughing Championships.
We are delighted to invite you to pitch your innovation to our online judging panel on the week beginning May 25th. The judging will be for a 30-minute duration, including a 10-minute presentation on your innovation followed by Q&A.” 
We were in with a chance! The application for OvaCyte Speciation had been successful and now we just had to showcase the innovative, world-first technology behind it and demonstrate how this was a game changer for vets and farmers alike……….
In ten minutes……
Every vet, vet nurse, or anyone who works with animals knows how fast ten minutes can disappear. It can be the difference between a live calf and a dead one, between viable and non-viable intestine, between stability and impending haemorrhagic shock.
But it can also be the slowest ten minutes there is — waiting on a blood result, straining to hear a heartbeat, listening for that first soft, shallow breath after CPR.
Cue the practising, editing, reciting, nitpicking of the presentation until every word, every pause in those ten minutes had earned its place.
Cue the endless list of every question a panel of judges from Enterprise Ireland, Teagasc, and various government departments could possibly ask.
Cue the day of the pitch — logging on, sitting in the digital waiting room, praying Teams and PowerPoint decide to behave, and hoping you can actually answer clearly and concisely when it counts.
And finally, the ‘thank you’s ‘ and ‘you’ll hear from us’ and ‘All the bests’ as you sign off.
And two weeks later another email
“Thank you for taking the time to apply for the 2026 Innovation Arena! We appreciate the effort and insight that went into your submission and were delighted to learn more about your innovation.
As the next step in preparing for the Innovation Arena 2026, we are pleased to invite you to attend an Exhibitor Information Session outlining participation in the Innovation Arena at the National Ploughing Championships”
Time to plough on!
