Three Northern Ireland Businesses Named Regional Winners in InterTradeIreland's Seedcorn Competition
TalkTerms, Routine Roo and BioMarx have all been named as Northern regional winners at this year’s InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition.
The three categories included Business-to-Business, Business-to-Consumer and Deep Tech.TalkTerms won in the B2B category, Routine Roo won in the B2C category, while BioMarx won in the Deep Tech category. Each company received €50,000 and will advance to the All-Island final in Dublin on November 13th.
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 €800,000 to promising start-ups and early-stage businesses. The Seedcorn competition offers start-up businesses the chance to win big without giving away an equity stake.
B2B Category
TalkTerms is developing a unique global digital app designed to make dispute resolution more accessible, affordable and efficient for everyone. TalkTerms uses advanced AI algorithms to digitise the whole process, removing barriers to justice and promoting transparency, whilst drastically reducing the costs and times to settlement. Their solution will eradicate the reliance the sector previously placed on face-to-face service delivery practices and instead, provides practitioners with an innovative, virtual, technological solution.
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Gary LyonsCEO and Co-Founder of TalkTermsThe InterTradeIreland Seedcorn competition has been an exceptional experience for TalkTerms. The structured process, feedback, and challenge at each stage have helped us refine our strategy and strengthen our message. Winning the regional B2B category is a significant achievement as we begin our scaling journey, and the competition’s credibility provides powerful validation of our vision
B2C Category
Routine Roo is a tool that blends behavioural science, technology, and storytelling to help children feel empowered and parents feel calm. They recently launched their “Going to School” routine, designed to make mornings calmer and smoother for families. Coming soon are potty/toilet training routines and sleep and bedtime routines
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Pauline TimoneyCo-Founder of Routine RooWe’re absolutely delighted to be named one of the regional winners of the Seedcorn 2025 competition! The competition really put us through our paces and pushed us to refine every aspect of our business plan. The masterclasses were invaluable preparation, and the judges on the day asked brilliant questions that gave us great insights. We even got an X-Factor-style call from Connor afterwards to tell us the news, it was the biggest relief after so much work! The process alone would have been worth it, but winning gives us a real boost at the perfect time, with cash flow and marketing funds to support our upcoming launch. We’re thrilled to be heading to the All-Ireland final in a few weeks. Huge thanks to InterTradeIreland and to Connor for all the support.
Deep Tech Category
BioMarx launched in early 2025 and is developing rapid, low-cost diagnostics, capable of replacing genome sequencing in the clinical environment. Their first application is a liquid biopsy solution enabling screening and early detection of lung cancer.
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Sean MacFarlaneFounder of BioMarxWe are absolutely delighted to have won the Northern Irish Deep Tech category. This money will contribute massively to our coming development phase as we'll help socialise the work Biomarx is doing among the Irish ecosystem.
All companies emerged victorious from a group of six innovative start-up and early-stage businesses representing Dublin. They also included Prize Funder, ExactComms and Blue Eye Highway.
The regional final, held on October 22nd in Dublin saw the finalists pitch their investment proposals to a panel of judges, including active investors. The Dublin regional winners will now compete for the overall prize of €130,000 at the final in Dublin next month.
Shane O’Hanlon, Funding for Growth Manager at InterTradeIreland, said:
Congratulations to all the finalists who participated in our Northern Ireland Regional Finals. The competition is always strong, and the innovation we see continues to impress year after year. A big congratulations to TalkTerms, Routine Roo and BioMarx for securing their spots in the Dublin finals next month. It’s going to be one competitive final.
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 Claire Carroll, Head of the Growth Capital Department, Enterprise Ireland, David Monffitt, Chair, Folens Group, Gillian Buckley, Head of Investment, Western Development Commission, John Carrigan, Investment Director, Yield Lab and Shannon Beattie, CEO, Genome Diagnostics.
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.
