Sports Impact Technologies and Grá Chocolates are Connacht and Leinster’s regional winners of this year’s InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition. Sports Impact Technologies won ‘Best New Start’ while Grá Chocolates won ‘Best Early Stage.' Each company received €20,000 and will advance to the All-Island final in Belfast on November 7th.
The InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition is the largest business competition of its kind on the island of Ireland, offering a total prize fund of €300,000 to promising start-ups and early-stage businesses.
Sports Impact Technologies, based in Wicklow, was named the ‘Best New Start’ for Connacht and Leinster. The company is developing a sports wearable that detects all head impacts as they happen. The solution they have developed is both sports and player agnostic, meaning that it can be worn for any player for any sport.
We entered last year’s competition and gained excellent feedback on our business and materials. We are delighted to be regional winners this year. The workshops and the feedback has been quite rewarding. Specific honest feedback is so valuable when coming from experts. It is great to review your business plan and address any gaps that have been highlighted. We have a lot of development going on so the prize money will be a huge assistance to help with our hardware development and testing.
Eóin Tuohy, Founder & CEO, Sports Impact Technologies
Meanwhile, Grá Chocolates, based in Galway, took home the title of ‘Best Early Stage’ for Connacht and Leinster. Grá Chocolates are exquisite artisan confections made with love in county Galway. Created and crafted in small batches by award-winning pastry chef, Gráinne Mullins, each exquisite chocolate is meticulously made and painted by hand. Combining the finest raw ingredients with native Irish flavours.
I entered Seedcorn to continue growing the business and expand the business into larger markets creating an in-store presence in the United Kingdom and USA. This process has helped me become more confident in my ability to communicate the value of my business, my aspirations for its future, and what I aim to achieve. I've learned the importance of understanding that building a business takes time and that nurturing it is crucial to ensure it receives the full recognition it deserves. I am delighted to be chosen as a regional winner.
Gráinne Mulllins, Founder & CEO, Grá Chocolates
Both companies emerged victorious from a group of six innovative start-up and early-stage businesses representing Connacht and Leinster. They included BackAware, Replikate.AI/ Evolve Neuro, Pumpinheart and Suil Pharma.
The regional final, held on October 16th in Athlone, saw the finalists pitch their investment proposals to a panel of judges, including active investors. The Connacht and Leinster regional winners will now compete for the overall prize of €100,000 at the final in Belfast next month.
Congratulations to all the finalists who participated in our Connacht and Leinster Regional Finals. The competition is always intense, and the innovation we see continues to impress year after year. A big congratulations to Sports Impact Technologies and Grá Chocolates for securing their spots in the Belfast finals next month. We expect the competition to be equally impressive.
Shane O’Hanlon, Funding for Growth Manager at InterTradeIreland
For start-ups and early-stage businesses, the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor-Readiness Competition provides a platform to demonstrate why these companies believe they are ‘investor ready’ and open to a funding injection. As part of the regional finals, companies pitched their business plan to a panel of industry judges that included Martin Agnew (InterTradeIreland), Alison Reid (Invest NI) and Denise McQuaid (Awaken Angels.)
The process mirrored a real-life investment process, and each finalist has received expert feedback on its business plan and pitch, as well as increased exposure to investors.
For the fourth consecutive year, an additional €20,000 prize will be awarded for best investment proposal from a company operating in the low carbon/green sector.
