NI companies urged to enter Seedcorn competition with €300k total prize fund before deadline

The competition is open to firms in the seed, start-up and early stages of business development, who are seeking to ramp up their funding.

Participants are advised on how to develop their business plan, present business propositions, improve their ‘investor readiness’, benefit from exposure with venture capitalists, angel and other investors and get the chance to increase the profile of their business.

Seedcorn Programme Manager, Connor Sweeney said: “Seed finance can be notoriously hard to attract. However, during the Covid pandemic it has been even more testing, which is why we expect this competition to resonate with firms who have big ideas and big growth potential.

“We would encourage young Northern Ireland companies that meet the criteria to submit their entries before the closing date of 1pm on Friday, May 28 and take advantage of this fantastic opportunity. The competition is straightforward to enter and since its inception in 2003, regional finalists have gone on to secure in excess of €270m in new equity funding.”

Two companies in Northern Ireland are guaranteed to take away €20k each as regional winners before going on to compete in the all-island final later in the year with a chance to win the overall title or category title with cash prizes of 100k and 50k respectively.

Seedcorn is aimed at companies seeking to raise equity funding. They can enter one of two categories; ‘new start’ or ‘early stage’ to generate investment enabling them to grow and develop.

Last year’s category winner, NI firm GenoME Diagnostics, which is developing a novel blood test to detect an earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer, secured a €50,000 cash prize which it is using to validate its new product and fast track its use in clinics. The company has also benefited from greater visibility globally.

Shannon Beattie, Chief Operations Officer, GenoME Diagnostics, added: “Seedcorn was an invaluable process that I would highly recommend to other companies or entrepreneurs from any sector. The competition closely mimics that of the investor process. The Seedcorn team along with the real investors and VCs involved in the competition have been fantastic in providing detailed feedback and suggestions, not just on the business plan and pitch, but also on the business itself.”

For more information about the competition and to apply, visit: https://intertradeireland.com/funding/seedcorn.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you