Seedcorn Fund
€280,000 seedcorn prize fund for best early stage companies
Alastair Kerr, Sophia Search and Sean Gallagher, ITI Board Member E
ntrepreneurs from could get a huge cash boost for their business, thanks to a prize fund of €280,000 being offered by InterTradeIrelandʼs Seedcorn All‑Island Business Competition
2010.
The competition is the largest on the island in terms of the prize fund available and in the past has helped give fledgling firms ʻlift‑ offʼ.
Through Seedcorn, companies on the island of Ireland have already leveraged around €125m of additional equity investment over the past six years.
As well as offering fantastic cash incentives Seedcorn provides invaluable support and advice from some of the islandʼs top investment experts and the competition mimics a real Venture Capital investment process. InterTradeIreland Board member, Sean Gallagher who is also a well‑known ʻDragonʼ from RTEʼs hit TV show ʻthe Dragonʼs Denʼ said: “The economic environment has never been tougher for young companies. InterTradeIrelandʼs seedcorn competition can help businesses get off the ground with a cash incentive as well as invaluable advice and support from leading investors across the island.”
ʻʼThey can use the competition to help develop their business ideas, improve their business plan and learn how to present concepts to panels of investors.ʼʼ
“I would urge companies to enter Seedcorn and give their business a boost – aside from the prize fund on offer, the competition provides a unique opportunity for firms to raise their profile, make invaluable industry contacts and ultimately attract further investment.”
Two top categories This year, the two top categories – Best High Growth Company and Best Emerging Company – stand to win €100,000 and €50,000 respectively. There are also six regional prizes of €20,000 each and one Best Spinout prize of €10,000.
Northern Ireland Company Sophia Search has gone from strength to strength since winning Best High Growth Company at last yearʼs finals.
Based at the Northern Ireland Science Park in Belfast and in St. Petersburg, Russia Sophia Search has developed ground breaking
www.businessfirstonline.co.uk 20
semantic search technology which enables companies and organisations to intelligently search their ever increasing volumes of documents and unstructured information, whether it resides internally or external to the organisation.
The technology was jointly developed by scientists from the University of Ulster and the St Petersburg State University in Russia.
Managing director Dr Patterson said: “We were delighted to have won the Overall Seedcorn Award for Best High Growth Company in 2009”. “The input of some of Irelandʼs leading business experts throughout all stages of the competition assisted us in the development and promotion of what is a Global Technology.” “Whilst a cash prize is always welcome, the biggest benefit of winning was the exposure it provided. This provided connections to both the right funding partners and leading entrepreneurs that will ultimately ensure we are successful in exploiting the massive potential in SOPHIA. Since winning, the company has moved forward dramatically and we have already secured significant investment.”
We have also enjoyed steady sales growth despite the current economic downturn and have ambitious plans to exploit the lucrative US market. In fact we already have people on the ground in the US and I am excited to report we have just opened our first office there”.
Following the scoring of written business plans, the top entries from each region and category are selected to make a short presentation to a panel of judges, followed by a question and answer session.
Winners are selected in each category in each of the regions and will be asked to make their presentation again to a separate panel of judges at the final in Belfast on Tuesday, November 30th, 2010. The panel will then select the overall all‑island winner in each category. To register for the competition, visit:
www.seedcorncompetition.com.
Business plans must be submitted by 1pm on Friday, 17th September, 2010.
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