Plio Surgical has been announced as the winner of the InterTradeIreland all-island Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, walking away with a cash prize of €100,000 to invest in their business. Plio Surgical also won the Best Early-Stage category on the night while Cotter Agritech won Best New Start category on the night, also taking home €50,000.
The Seedcorn competition aims to improve the investor readiness of innovative new-start and early-stage businesses across the island. As well as a substantial prize fund of €300,000, participants in the competition benefit from feedback at all stages, access to business planning workshops, unique networking opportunities and access to angel investors, and mentorship support throughout the competition.
Plio Surgical is a spin-out of Trinity College Dublin developing an innovative magnetic anastomosis device for gastrointestinal surgery. The company is at pre-clinical stage and plans to undertake the clinical and regulatory activities required to enter the USA market first followed by European markets.
We are delighted that Plio Surgical were chosen as a winner in the Seedcorn competition. The standard was very high so we’re over the moon. This is our second time applying. The first time we received really good feedback and we realised we needed to go back and think of the different aspects of our business plan and really crystalise our strategy more. The second time, we submitted a stronger business plan and it has paid off.
Going forward, we are looking to raise a €3.6 million round to conduct our first clinical trials to bring our device to patients so winning is hugely beneficial to us.
Cristina Purtill, CEO of Plio Surgical
As well as winning Best New Start, Cotter Agritech also took home an additional €20,000 cash prize, securing the competition’s Sustainability / Low Carbon Award, as recognition of the best investment proposal from a company operating in the low carbon / sustainability sector. Cotter Agritech developed SmartWorm - a mobile app using in-house developed, proprietary advanced algorithms that consider a range of physiological and environmental factors which will allow farmers to assess individual animals and predict if they require an anti-parasitic treatment or not in real time.
Winning this award gives us huge validation for what we’re doing. We’re in the middle of trying to raise a €450,000 seed round, so in terms of closing that round, this will really accelerate that. It gives us huge credibility and the process of the competition has been hugely beneficial in terms of refining our pitch and our story that we’re trying to tell. It’s now resonating with investors. It’s been fundamental to our progress to date and it’s going to be a launch pad for us to go and raise that investment round and achieve the ambitions we set out to achieve. We’re deploying our product in Australia and New Zealand next year, so our aim is to deliver to farmers there and increase their profitability by up to 20%.
Nick Cotter, CEO and Co-Founder of Cotter Agritech
Galway’s Suil Pharma walked away with this year’s ‘Special Award’ receiving a cash prize of €10,000. This is presented each year to the best venture stemming from a university spinout or a recognised support programme. Suil Pharma, based in Rosscahill, Galway, research and develop innovative solutions focusing on vision and hearing.
Dr Caoimhe Archibald, Minister of Finance attended the event in Belfast last night (Thursday 7 November) and praised all of the entrepreneurs who took part in this year’s competition.
InterTradeIreland’s Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition plays a crucial role in the support of entrepreneurs and their start-ups and early-stage businesses across the island of Ireland. Supporting innovative SMEs is key to delivering our economic priorities of higher productivity and better jobs. The Seedcorn competition is an ideal first step for early-stage and new-start businesses as they move forward to securing the funding they need to realise their scaling potential. We have seen incredible talent at this year’s finals, and I look forward to watching these entrepreneurs thrive and drive their companies on to make a meaningful impact on our economy.
Dr Caoimhe Archibald, Minister of Finance
Congratulating the winners, Margaret Hearty, Chief Executive at InterTradeIreland, said:
The diverse range of businesses who participated in this year’s InterTradeIreland Seedcorn competition has been a testament to the vibrant entrepreneurship eco-system across the island. Year-on-year, the competition attracts start-up and early-stage companies that are at the cutting-edge of their industry and this year has been no exception. I am also delighted to see so many inspiring women entrepreneurs as Seedcorn finalists this year.
This year’s overall winner, Plio Surgical 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 important stage of their development. On behalf of all of us at InterTradeIreland, I wish all companies who took part in this year’s Seedcorn competition the very best of luck with their business growth and future ambitions.
Margaret Hearty, Chief Executive at InterTradeIreland
This year’s Seedcorn final was contested by eight 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 Richard Kennedy (InterTradeIreland), Gerry Maguire (Atlantic Bridge Ventures and IVCA), Debbie Rennick (ACT Venture Capital), and Eoghan Quigley (Angel).
