InterTradeIreland provides the successful formula for Investor Readiness

Northern Ireland entrepreneurs could get a huge cash boost for their business, thanks to a total prize fund of €280,000 being offered by InterTradeIreland’s Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition 2015. Now in its 13^th year, InterTradeIreland is calling on young, innovative companies from all business sectors to enter the competition.

Speaking about the competition, Connor Sweeney, InterTradeIreland, said: ‘With a cash prize fund of €280,000 up for grabs, Seedcorn provides a great opportunity for early stage and new start companies in Northern Ireland.  But Seedcorn is more than just a competition – entrants can get invaluable guidance, tips and advice from our experts, as well as investors and other entrepreneurs, on how to improve their business plan and investment pitch and demonstrate to investors that their business is worth investing in.’

Drew O’Sullivan, InterTradeIreland’s Lead Equity Advisor adds; ‘There has never been a better time for an investor ready company to seek funding in Northern Ireland. The Seedcorn competition  encourages  and assists the best startups on the island to become investor ready.  The purpose of a business plans and slide deck is to make the investment case for a prospective investor – how might their investment today multiply in value in the next 3-5 years? The Seedcorn process is designed to help great startups develop those compelling investment cases.’

To date, InterTradeIreland has supported more than 2,150 enterprising companies through the Seedcorn process with previous finalists going on to secure more than €187m worth of new equity. Past winners from Northern Ireland include Catagen and Sophia Search from Belfast who were overall winners and Jenarron Therapeutics, Dunmurray; See. Sense, Newtownards and Cirdan Imaging, Lisburn who were all regional winners.  

This year’s competition is now open for registration at www.intertradeireland.com/seedcorn and Northern Ireland businesses are encouraged to submit an entry. Deadline for submissions is 29 May 2015.

Businesses can enter in one of the two categories; new start or early stage and there are four regions; Northern Ireland, Dublin (City & County), Munster, and Connacht & Leinster (including counties Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan).

Companies submit their application along with a visual representation of the business idea. Shortlisted companies are invited to submit a full business plan and, if successful, are invited to deliver an investment pitch in front of the judging panel comprising of venture capitalists, business angels and some of the island’s leading industry experts and entrepreneurs. 

Throughout each stage of the competition, companies will be judged on various criteria including financial performance, company milestones and achievements, future strategy for the business, the management team in place, and indeed the quality of the pitch to the judging panel. Feedback is provided to companies at each stage of the competition process.

 Over the coming weeks, InterTradeIreland will host a series of free workshops designed to guide those considering entering this year’s competition, including providing advice on preparation of video clips, presentation slide decks and business plans. Workshops are planned for Belfast on 22 April at Ulster University and NISP and in Derry~Londonderry on 30 April at NISP. More information on the workshops can be found on the InterTradeIreland website.

You can follow all the action throughout the 2015 competition by searching for and using #seedcorn and following @iti_seedcorn