Athlone company, Nearfield Communications, was named the Best Early Stage company at the recent Connacht and Leinster final of the 2014 InterTradeIreland All-Island Seedcorn Investor Readiness competition.
Nearfield Communications, which is based in Athlone, overcame tough competition from two other finalists to win €20,000 to help finance the early stages of its ventures. The company will now go on to compete in the all-island final of the competition, which will take place on Wednesday November 26 at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast.
Nearfield Communications has developed Device Smart, which offers businesses an innovative software-as-a-service (SAAS ) solution that facilitates the remote control and monitoring on one system, of all enterprise-wide hardware anywhere in the world, thereby delivering significant cost savings and operational efficiencies.
Eamonn Roarke, CEO Nearfield Communications said; “I had known about the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn competition for years and always wanted to enter the competition to help become investor ready and to benefit from a network of experts. We received very sound advice regarding how to present and fine tune our investor pitch. I’m delighted we’ve won the regional final as it is a testament to the advice and the work we have done throughout the Seedcorn process.”
Now in its 12th year, Seedcorn is the island’s biggest business competition for new start and early stage companies in any sector, from any part of the island. The competition, aimed at companies who have a new equity funding requirement, has an overall cash prize fund of €280,000, with no equity stake.
Nearfield Communications will go head-to-head with the winners of the Northern Ireland, Dublin, and Munster finals for the title of overall Best Early Stage Company.
