Winners of InterTrade Ireland Seedcorn Competition 2016
by Startacus Admin
Now in it’s 14th year, theInterTradeIreland Seedcorn Competition is an All-Ireland investor-readiness competition which helps participating startups to prepare their business to raise outside funding.
It is the biggest business competition in Ireland for new start and early-stage companies, and over the years has become a staple of the Island’s business callander, generating much interest from entrepreneurs, investors, and local thought leaders.
On November 24th 2016, the winners of the most recent competition which saw over 300 applications were announced at an event at The Waterfront hall in Belfast.
The overall winner of the Seedcorn competition was Dublin-based biotech firm Valitacell, who bagged themselves a €100,000 cash prize (with no transferal of business equity required.)
The other major award of the night was for Best Early-Stage Company, which was won by FinTech startup Gecko Governance from Dundalk.
Valitacell provides analytical support to the biopharmaceutical sector. It assists companies in improving the efficiency and performance of a cell development process that is crucial in the manufacture of monoclonal antibody drugs.
Dr Terry McWade, CEO of Valitacell said; “I am absolutely delighted to win the overall award at the IntertradeIreland Seedcorn 2016 national final. This competition has taught the whole team a lot and allowed us to refine many aspects of our business. We developed an improved business plan that helped us to refine our message and strategy for investors.”
Dundalk based Gecko Governance- who incidentally made to the final of the Startacus-hosted pitching competition upSTART Belfast, at Digital DNA back in June- makes regulation technology for the global finance industry that allows fund managers to monitor and manage their regulation and compliance requirements.
Shane Brett, Founder and CEO of Gecko Governance, said; “We are delighted to win best Early Stage company category and the €50,000 cash prize. We will use the prize money to accelerate our expansion plans – specifically in rolling out our London office later this year.
The Seedcorn process helped us build our business plan which was a lot of work but very rewarding in terms of ending with an investor ready business plan in great shape.”
Congrats to all who have taken part and we look forward to the launch of the 2017 competition.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Artificial intelligence platform Ricochet is on an AI mission to find new business leads that fit the needs of your company.
From understanding more about how a business can invoice effectively to avoid late payments, to what debt recovery means, to how to take legal action against overdue debt.
The challenges of working with a business partner or another co-founder, as told by 12 of the UK’s top startup co-founders
This February 12th & 13th, global pre-accelerator program Startup Boost, will host a virtual demo day from their 'Fall programs' in Detroit, Dublin, Los Angeles, and New York.
Minute is an app that allows you to watch quality short films, tailored to the time that you have available. We took a look at this early-stage startup with a big vision.
Migrants are gonna surround us, With ideas! We take a look at Startup Weekend Dublin immigration...
Five reasons why every business could consider investing in coaching for their sales team.
The FinTech and PropTech startup which rewards tenants with improved credit for on-time rent payments...
.png)
SportTech Belfast startup Pitchbooking, secures £250k investment to help become the market leader in sports facility management.
From understanding more about supplier and business customer negotiations, to contracts, understanding heads of terms, to what should be included in a terms of contract.
Published on: 29th November 2016
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Startup Weekend Dublin immigration aims to builds ideas not borders 7th Feb 2019 Migrants are gonna surround us, With ideas! We take a look at Startup Weekend Dublin immigration...
- Sports facility management platform Pitchbooking nets £250k investment 6th Feb 2019 SportTech Belfast startup Pitchbooking, secures £250k investment to help become the market leader in sports facility management.
- Too Good To Go raises further €6m to keep fighting food waste everywhere 6th Feb 2019 Fast growing tech for good app Too Good To Go raises a further €6 million to accelerate its mission to eliminate food waste globally, taking its total investment to €16m.
- Google+ for consumers shuts down 2nd April 1st Feb 2019 Goodbye Google+. The end date for Google+ for consumers (personal) has been announced as the 2nd April 2019. So what....now?
