Now in its 16th year, Seedcorn is Ireland’s biggest business competition for innovative new start and early stage businesses in any sector. The competition has an overall cash prize fund of €280,000 with participants also benefitting from promotional opportunities, business planning workshops and mentorship support throughout the competition.
ARQ Asset Solutions has developed an innovative smart solution that allows machinery owners, managers and operators monitor a machine’s oil condition remotely via a phone, tablet or PC. The company was founded by Ronan Carey and Conor O’Sullivan, two former Irish Naval Officers who managed and maintained high criticality engineering assets in the challenging environment of the North Atlantic.
Commenting on their win, ARQ Asset Solutions Co-Founder Ronan Carey said;
"We are delighted to have been named best start up at the Munster regional final. We see machinery oil as an asset as opposed to a consumable, whose life can be dramatically extended. By continuously monitoring the oil condition we can enable predictive maintenance strategies to be the driver in predicting maintenance requirements, thus increasing productivity while reducing ownership costs and environmental waste. It is a great boost to have our product and vision recognised by the judges in this way.
“The Seedcorn programme has helped us rethink our business plan to appeal to a wide range of investors and the prize fund will help accelerate our company growth. We hope to expand on our regional success at the all-island final!”Class Medical will now join two category winners from each of the other three regional finals to compete in the all-island final of the competition which will take place on Thursday 22nd November in Belfast. Finalists will compete for the overall ‘Best New Start’ company tittle or ‘Best Early Stage’ company title worth €50,000 each, and ultimately the ‘Overall Winner’ award, worth €100,000.”
Class Medical, a spin out of University of Limerick, has developed a safety valve designed to prevent risks associated with urinary catheter procedures.
Commenting on their win, Gavin Leonard, COO at Class Medical said;
““We are overjoyed to have been successful in the Munster final and the €20,000 prize fund. It will go a long way to funding our clinical trial. The TUC Safety Valve will eliminate catheter balloon injuries, reduce costs to hospitals, free up bed spaces and ultimately save lives. We are thrilled that our product, team and business plan were recognised by the judges and hope to impress them further at the all-Ireland final later this month.”
Class Medical will now join two category winners from each of the other three regional finals to compete in the all-island final of the competition which will take place on Thursday 22nd November in Belfast. Finalists will compete for the overall ‘Best New Start’ company tittle or ‘Best Early Stage’ company title worth €50,000 each, and ultimately the ‘Overall Winner’ award, worth €100,000.
Congratulating ARQ Asset Solutions and Class Medical, Shane O'Hanlon, Funding for Growth Manager at InterTradeIreland said;
“The standard of entries from Munster this year has been particularly high with the teams at both ARQ Asset Solutions and Class Medical reflecting the innovation, creativity and commitment the judges look for when it comes to assessing business vision and growth. Seedcorn is a great support and growth platform for entrepreneurs to help improve their business plan and refine their pitch in front of active investors, and over the last 15 years, we are proud to have fostered business growth across the island of Ireland. I congratulate ARQ Asset Solutions and Class Medical on their wins and wish them well as they embark on the final of the competition.”
To date, InterTradeIreland has supported over 2,300 enterprising companies through the Seedcorn process. With €238 million in new equity being raised by the companies which have reached the regional finals stage of the Seedcorn competition over the past 16 years, the competition has a strong track record of supporting early business start-ups to become investor ready.
