Innovative Munster startups progress to Seedcorn for €130,000 funding opportunity
InterTradeIreland has announced the winners of the Munster regional final of its all-island Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, with Pangaea Life Science Solutions, HomeBot and Oscil Tech recognised for the strength of their business propositions and growth potential.
As regional winners, the companies now progress to the all-island final in Belfast, where they will compete for a €130,000 funding opportunity, part of a total €800,000 prize fund.
The winning projects emerged from a competitive field of more than 300 early-stage ventures as part of InterTradeIreland’s Seedcorn competition, an all-island initiative that supports innovative businesses at seed, start-up and early stages of development.
- HomeBot, based in Cork, won the B2C award;
- Pangaea Life Science Solutions, based in Cork, won the B2B award;
- Oscil, based in Limerick, won the Deep Tech award.
Commenting, Shane O’Hanlon, Funding for Growth Manager at InterTradeIreland said:
InterTradeIreland would like to congratulate the winners of our Munster regional Seedcorn competition, whose innovative ideas, commercial ambition and high-quality pitches impressed the judging panel. The standard in this year’s competition has been particularly high, and competitions such as Seedcorn provide much more than the opportunity to compete for funding; they give SMEs and entrepreneurs access to expert feedback, help them strengthen their investor readiness and provide valuable exposure to investors and business networks that can support future growth.
Accepting the B2C award, Clara Mulligan, Founder and CEO of HomeBot, said:
Since founding HomeBot in 2024, when I built and self-funded the company, I’ve been grateful to bring our home robots to more and more people. InterTradeIreland’s recognition of my achievements means I can continue building on HomeBot, following honest and independent feedback from experts.
David Twohig, Pangaea Life Science Solutions CEO, winner of the B2B award, said:
The team here at Pangaea is delighted to have won the Munster regional Seedcorn final, as we continuously evolve and set new standards in the Life Science industry. Through our digital platforms and domain expertise, we aim to deliver for the biopharmaceutical sector, and this award is recognition of the fantastic work being done by the whole team.
Dr Patrick Cronin, Co-Founder of Oscil, winner of the Deep Tech award said:
Oscil’s aim is to transform high-value food and pharma powder processing through smart AI technology, providing our clients with real-time performance insights. As we have a highly specific offering, Seedcorn has helped us in developing our business, from the technical side right to developing a compelling narrative to help with investor readiness.
In addition to advancing in the competition, participants have benefitted from valuable expert feedback on their business models and investor pitches, helping to strengthen investor readiness, refine growth strategies and raise their profile among potential investors.
Seedcorn is open to independent ventures incorporated on the island of Ireland that are targeting export and international market opportunities, especially in the seed, start-up and early stages of development. The competition provides founders and management teams with practical experience of presenting to investors while helping them prepare for future fundraising opportunities.
O’Hanlon continued:
Finalists at our Munster regional competition represented a diverse range of sectors, showcasing the innovation, ambition and talent in the region. In addition, the calibre of businesses taking part clearly demonstrates the strength of entrepreneurship across the island. We look forward to seeing our regional winners in the all-island final in Belfast and we wish them every success in the next stage of the competition.
