Lia EyeCare named Spin-out of the Year

Lia EyeCare, the female-founded eyecare technology company behind Nightleaf, recognised for research-led innovation and commercial potential in NovaUCD Innovation Awards.

A female-founded eyecare technology start-up developing a new wearable solution for dry and sore eyes has been named the 2026 NovaUCD Spin-out of the Year.

Lia EyeCare, which is headquartered in the Réidh na nDoirí Gaeltacht in Macroom, Co. Cork, received the award at the annual NovaUCD Innovation Awards ceremony held at the UCD University Club in Dublin on Sunday. The award was presented by Professor Orla Feely, President of University College Dublin.

Founded in 2023 by Breda O’Regan and Sinéad Buckley, Lia EyeCare is focused on creating user-centred, science-backed products designed to support eye health by working with the body’s natural processes.

The company’s first product, Nightleaf, is a non-invasive wearable intended to help people experiencing persistent dry and sore eyes by supporting overnight eye recovery.

The eyes have it

The idea for Lia EyeCare emerged through the BioInnovate Ireland Programme at the University of Galway. Development continued at UCD with support from Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund, which enabled further clinical validation work and access to commercial expertise prior to the company spinning out.

Breda O’Regan, chief executive of Lia EyeCare, said the recognition marked an important milestone for the business.

“This recognition is hugely significant for Lia EyeCare as a company. Ireland’s universities are known around the world for breakthrough innovations and their ability to support companies to translate world-class research into high-impact businesses, so it is a real honour to be chosen as NovaUCD’s Spin-out of the Year. This Award is a really strong endorsement of our team and also the global commercial and market opportunity ahead for Nightleaf.”

Dry, sore and irritated eyes are an increasingly widespread issue, affecting an estimated 1.6 billion people globally. Symptoms are commonly associated with Dry Eye Disease and are linked to factors such as prolonged screen use, ageing populations, contact lens wear and environmental conditions.

Most current treatments focus on symptom management rather than stimulating natural tear production. Many people rely on frequent use of eye drops, which require ongoing purchase and regular reapplication. Concerns have also been raised in clinical settings about contamination risks and long-term adherence.

Lia EyeCare’s Nightleaf wearable is designed to be worn on the forehead for five minutes at the beginning and end of a person’s nightly rest period. Using cooling modulation technology, the device is intended to encourage a natural tear response and support the eye’s recovery process during rest.

Since spinning out, Lia EyeCare has established its headquarters in Co. Cork while also maintaining offices at NovaUCD. The company has secured Enterprise Ireland High-Potential Start-Up status and was an award winner at the M2D2 Challenge start-up competition hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Boston.

The company is currently working with TU Dublin’s Centre for Eye Research Ireland on research into the epidemiology of Dry Eye Disease in Ireland. It is also advancing artificial intelligence applications in ophthalmology through international research collaborations.

Sinéad Buckley, chief operating officer of Lia EyeCare, said the award reflected years of development work behind the product.

“This Award reflects the years of research, engineering, and development that have gone into creating Nightleaf and our vision of being able to provide immediate relief for people with dry, sore eyes. Bringing a product to market isn’t easy, and we’ve had vital support from our colleagues at UCD and University of Galway, and many others along the way. We’d like to thank them all for driving us on and enabling us to deliver a product that’s going to provide real and meaningful benefits to people around the world.”

Nightleaf is currently undergoing design work to support large-scale manufacturing, with commercial launch targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. The company is inviting eyecare patients and clinicians to join a waitlist for early access.

The NovaUCD Innovation Awards celebrate achievements in entrepreneurship, knowledge transfer and innovation across UCD’s research and start-up community.

At this year’s ceremony, Dr Eoin O’Cearbhaill, Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering at UCD, received the main 2026 NovaUCD Innovation Award for his work developing medical devices addressing unmet clinical needs.

Professor Orla Feely said the awards highlight UCD’s role in translating research into real-world impact, congratulating all recipients on their contribution to Ireland’s innovation ecosystem.

2026 NovaUCD Innovation Award winners

A total of seven seven awards were presented by Professor Feely and the other five awardees were:

2026 NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award: Professor Kenneth Dawson, UCD School of Chemistry and Founder of the UCD Centre for BioNano Interactions, and Associate Professor Yan Yan, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, for their invention which introduces a disruptive shift in nanomedicine through the creation of a leading-edge “biological-hybrid” platform. This breakthrough invention establishes a transformative, programmable toolkit for the next generation of precision therapeutics.

2026 NovaUCD Licence of the Year Award: Professor Theo De Waal, UCD School of Veterinary Medicine; Dr Dimitri Scholz, UCD Conway Institute; Assoc. Professor Vladimir Lobaskin, UCD School of Physics and Emeritus Assoc. Professor William O’Connor, UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, for the development of a novel faecal egg count device which was licenced to CF Pharma and is now being sold globally by Telenostic, a CF Pharma spin-out, to identify parasitic infection in animals on farms.

2026 NovaUCD Consultancy of the Year Award: Professor Regina Uí Chollatáin, Principal and Dean, UCD College of Arts and Humanities and UCD Chair of Modern Irish and Literature. With the support of ConsultUCD Professor Uí Chollatáin won a tender from Coimisiún na Meán for a comprehensive 12-month study to review and assess the current Irish language media landscape and to make recommendations regarding its development.

2026 NovaUCD CEO of the Year Award: Jason Lynch, CEO, Equal1. Equal1, a UCD spin-out which earlier this year closed a $60 million funding round, is on a mission to democratize quantum computing and to make this transformative technology, which offers unprecedented potential to unlock societal advancements in areas such as climate modelling and drug discovery, accessible and affordable for all.

2026 NovaUCD Innovation Champion of the Year Award: The European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) programme team at CeADAR, Ireland’s Centre for Applied AI and the EDIH Hub for AI in Ireland. The team at is focused on championing innovation and industry engagement for SMEs and Public Service Organisations (PSOs) and helps SMEs and PSOs to leverage the latest AI and digital advances.

Top image: Breda O’Regan and Sinéad Buckley, co-founders, Lia EyeCare, recipient of the 2026 NovaUCD Spin-out of the Year Award. Photo: Paul Sharp/Sharppix

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