Start-ups, early-stage companies invited to enter €300,000 InterTradeIreland competition

Provides exposure to investors and expert feedback on business plans and pitches

Trade

(L-R) Shana Chu, CEO, Tailr; Vincent Forde, Gasgon Medical; Connor Sweeney, InterTradeIreland

14 April 2022

Start-up and early-stage companies across the island of Ireland have been invited to enter the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness competition.

Seedcorn boasts an overall prize fund of €300,000, and, for the second consecutive year, a €20,000 prize is also up for grabs for best investment proposal from a company operating in the low carbon/green sector.

Previous winners have spanned a wide range of sectors and hailed from across the island of Ireland. The overall winner of the 2021 Seedcorn competition was Cork-based med-tech firm, Gasgon Medical. The company manufactures AirVault, a device for removing air bubbles from flowing fluids aimed primarily at medical IV infusions, the most common invasive therapy in modern healthcare.

“Being named overall winner was a huge honour for us,” said Gasgon Medical CEO Vincent Forde, “and the prize money has helped us grow our team as we move towards bringing our product to market. Crucially, Seedcorn also gave us incredible feedback on our proposals and business plan throughout the competition, which we were able to use to refine our pitches and secure additional funding from investors. We have gained a lot from the Seedcorn experience, and any company seeking to boost their investor readiness will benefit from entering.”

InterTradeIreland will host a series of free online information sessions over the coming weeks, designed to help companies thinking of entering this year’s competition, including providing advice on preparation of video clips, presentation slide decks and business plans.

The closing date for entries is 27 May 2022.

TechCentral Reporters

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