Rath Chairn start-up gets Dragon investment

A young Rath Chairn woman impressed the investors on RTE’s 'Dragons Den’ on Sunday night and persuaded Bellewstown-based Gavin Duffy to hand over €30,000 in exchange for a 10 per cent share in her company.
Twenty-four year-old Caríosa Sullivan, her stepdad and business partner Martin Finucane and financial controller Frank McGivney were among those who faced the Dragons last Sunday for the final episode of the RTE One television series.
Their company sells 'Able Table’, a piece of furniture designed to make life easier for wheelchair-users.
Caríosa’s mum works as an art therapist with disabled individuals and Martin and Caríosa came up with their idea from the difficulties that disabled wheelchair-users had using a traditional table.
The height adjustment and tilt-in space for motorised chairs of the Able Table makes day-to-day activities much easier for wheelchair-users.
Caríosa, Martin and Frank were first into the Den on Sunday night and so impressed the judges that they got exactly what they were looking for.
The Able Table is a specially designed table for wheelchair-users and people who live with various kinds of disability in their day­-to -day lives. It seats up to four wheelchair-users and four care staff or peers.
The sturdy melamine surface has an easy to clean and hygienic finish, which is both heat- and water-resistant. The table is currently available in two sizes to accommodate both standard wheelchair height and the larger tilt­-in motorised chairs. The specially designed shape provides ample space for every variety of group activity.
The Able Table’s benefits are clear across all areas of public and private health care facilities. Users have said it has changed their lives.
Caríosa’s mum came home from work one day, asking if there was any way of making it easier for group activities. Martin went off and came up with the prototype which she tested in her unit. It worked really well.  
They only established their online business about a year ago and are only selling for the past six months.  
Caríosa and her stepdad work on the business from home and will soon be moving to a space provided by Udaras na Gaeltachta in Rath Chairn.
Martin, who is retired, has patented the design for the table.
He used to be a Dublin bus driver and taximan. Caríosa still holds down a full-time job while helping out with the Able Table.     
Councillor Noel French paid tribute to the team at Able Table. “A little bit of imagination and creative thinking goes a long way in creating a local home-grown enterprise. While the big international businesses are important, we can really only depend on our native entrepreneurs to create jobs locally. The fact that this product makes life easier for those with disabilities,” he said.