Irish entrepreneur named as a finalist of the 2019 Cartier Women’s Initiative

By Erin Lindsay
07th Mar 2019

06/02/2019 - Pictured at NovaUCD, the Centre for new Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin is Tracy O’Rourke, CEO and Founder of Vivid Edge, an energy efficiency specialist company. Photograph Nick Bradshaw

Irish entrepreneur named as a finalist of the 2019 Cartier Women’s Initiative

Tracey O’Rourke, CEO and founder of energy efficiency specialist company Vivid Edge, has been named as a finalist of the 2019 Cartier Women’s Initiative.

O’Rourke is the only Irish entrepreneur shortlisted for the prestigious Europe Award, alongside two other women (one from France, one from Switzerland).

The Cartier Women’s Initiative is an annual global business competition to “identify, support and encourage female entrepreneurs who are working to solve contemporary global challenges”.

A total of 21 finalists in seven regions across the world have been shortlisted from almost 3,000 applicants.

O’Rourke’s business

O’Rourke is the CEO and founder of Vivid Edge, a company established in 2015 that provides organisations that use large amounts of energy with systems and services to improve their energy efficiency.

To date, Vivid Edge has secured the backing of a large European energy efficiency fund with a €30 million project funding facility, completed projects with private and public sector organisations, and has generated a multi-million euro revenue stream. O’Rourke said: “We have an exciting sales pipeline reaching into Europe, Middle East and Africa. We help organisations, in Ireland and around the world, to mobilise energy efficiency projects that may not otherwise happen. We help ensure they make commercial sense and have a positive economic and environmental impact. This is thinking smart, thinking global and thinking of the next generation.”

The awards

The winners of the 2019 Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards will be announced at a ceremony in San Francisco on May 2. Each of the seven regional award winners will receive $100,000 in prize money, with the remaining 14 finalists each receiving $30,000. All 21 finalists will also receive personalised mentoring and a place on an executive INSEAD programme.

Speaking about her nomination, O’Rourke said: “I am delighted to be one of only 21 female entrepreneurs from around the world, who are all working to tackle a range of global challenges, to have been shortlisted for this year’s prestigious Cartier Women’s Initiative. I am now looking forward to meeting all the other finalists during the Awards week in San Francisco commencing at the end of April.”

Cyrille Vigneron, CEO, Cartier International, said, “With the Cartier Women’s Initiative, our company seeks to support women all around the world and thus honour values that are deeply anchored in the culture of our Maison: curiosity, audacity and openness.”

“Sharing the dreams of these women and being a part of their lives is both a source of responsibility and one of pride for us. This community of women and the success achieved by their side inspires us to go even further in striving for a world enriched by diversity.”

Cartier Women’s Initiative have released a video about O’Rourke’s career at the helm of Vivid Edge. Watch it here: