ArrayPatch Announced as Overall Winner of 2025 Seedcorn Competition
ArrayPatch has been announced as the winner of the InterTradeIreland all-island Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, walking away with a cash prize of €130,000 to invest in their business. ArrayPatch also won the Deep Tech category on the night while Gigi Supplements and HaPPE Earth won in the B2C and B2B categories, each taking home €100,000. Slice of Life, a Dublin based food start-up company, won the Impact Award, taking home €20,000. The Seedcorn competition aims to improve the investor readiness of innovative new-start and early-stage businesses across the island. 2025 saw a new increased total competition prize fund of €800,000, with a new primary focus on ensuring a broad range of winners across all categories. Participants in the competition also continue to benefit from access to business planning workshops, unique networking opportunities and access to angel investors, and mentorship support throughout the competition to help them secure vital funding and support to drive their growth.
Overall winner, ArrayPatch, is a Cork-based biotech spinout. It is developing DerMap™, a next-generation pain free dissolving microneedle technology which penetrates the skin barrier, dissolves and releases medication precisely at the target site. By repurposing proven drug compounds and bypassing the need for invasive treatments, ArrayPatch is creating a platform with the potential to transform how conditions such as nail fungal infections, skin cancers, migraines and metabolic diseases are treated.
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Dr Waleed FaisalCEO of ArrayPatchBecoming the overall Seedcorn winner is a tremendous validation of our technology and our vision. ArrayPatch was built to make effective therapies easier, safer and more accessible for patients, and this recognition shows how much potential DerMap™ has to reshape drug delivery. The support we’ve received throughout the Seedcorn competition has sharpened our strategy and accelerated our path towards first-in-human studies. We’re incredibly proud of how far we’ve come, and excited for the next stage of growth.
B2C Category Winner
Gigi Supplements has been named the B2C category winner. Founded by Nutritional Therapists, the Dublin-based start-up creates science-backed supplements designed to support female hormonal health, including its debut product, the PMS & Hormone Balance Blend.
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Jennie HaireCo-Founder and CEO of Gigi SupplementsWe’re absolutely thrilled to win the B2C category, it’s such an exciting moment for our team and for the women who inspire what we do. Gigi Supplements was born out of our own experiences, and this recognition from InterTradeIreland shows how powerful it is when women’s health is prioritised and backed by science. The prize will support us as we take Gigi to the next stage as we expand into the UK.
B2B Category Winner
HaPPE Earth has taken home the top prize in the competition’s B2B category. Founded in Cork, the company is tackling one of healthcare’s biggest environmental challenges, single-use plastic PPE waste. HaPPE Earth makes fully compostable personal protective equipment, which is then converted into fertiliser.
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Dr Mary O’RiordanCo-Founder and CEO of HaPPE EarthWinning the B2B category is a huge boost for HaPPE Earth. Healthcare and industrial partners are under huge pressure to cut waste and meet ESG targets, and we are giving them a credible, compliant alternative to single-use plastics. This win and recognition from InterTradeIreland validates that vision and will help us take the next step in scaling our business.
Impact Award
Dublin based company, Slice of Life won the Impact Award, receiving a cash prize of €20,000. Slice of Life pizzas give you three of your five a day, are high in protein and only 500 calories, and are available in Tesco and Lidl across Dublin, Meath and Kildare.
We are delighted to have won the Impact Award, which gives real validation and support to what we are trying to achieve. This recognition comes as we accelerate our growth and prepare for our next stage of expansion. We've found the Seedcorn process a perfect opportunity to bring our plan and pitch to a really high standard, get valuable investor feedback, to take our business from strength to strength.
Emi Takakura, Founder and CEO of Slice of Life
Congratulating the winners, Margaret Hearty, Chief Executive at InterTradeIreland, said:
The broad spectrum of businesses that participated in this year’s InterTradeIreland Seedcorn competition highlights the strength and vitality of the entrepreneurial ecosystem across the island. Each year, the competition attracts innovative start-ups and early-stage companies operating at the forefront of their respective sectors, and this year has been no exception.
This year’s overall winner, ArrayPatch epitomises the very best of what businesses across the island of Ireland have to offer and we are proud to support them at this early and very important stage of their development. InterTradeIreland extends its congratulations to all participants, wishing them every success as they continue to grow and develop their businesses.
Margaret Hearty, Chief Executive at InterTradeIreland
This year’s Seedcorn final was contested by 12 regional finalists from across the island of Ireland. As part of the process, the finalists presented their investment pitch to a panel of judges including Martin Agnew, Director or Corporate Services, InterTradeIreland, Dominic Kearns, Chief Executive, Fibrus, Mairead Roche, Investment Associate, ACT Venture Capital, Claudine Owens, Investment Manager, Clarendon, Fidelma McGurk, Founder and CEO, Payslip, Martin Robinson, Director of Strategy, InterTradeIreland, Niamh Sterling, Entrepreneur in Residence, DogPatch Labs, Andrew McGreal, Investment Director, BVP, Michael Dawson, Investor, Carl Murray, Investor, Teresa Chambers, Angel Investor, HBAN, Karole Egan, Head of Scaling Finance, Enterprise Ireland, Andrew Parish, Partner, Wake Up Capital, Barry Brennan, Venture Capital, Elkstone Ventures, Declan O'Mahoney, Chairman, Equal 1 Labs, Richard Kennedy, Chair of InterTradeIreland and Caroline Gaynor, Chairperson of IVCA.
