Galway’s Suil Pharma walked away with this year’s ‘Special Award’ at InterTradeIreland’s all-island Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, receiving a cash prize of €10,000. This is presented each year to the best venture stemming from a university spinout or a recognised support programme. Suil Pharma, based in Rosscahill, Galway, research and develop innovative solutions focusing on vision and hearing.
The Seedcorn competition aims to improve the investor readiness of innovative new-start and early-stage businesses across the island. As well as a substantial prize fund of €300,000, participants in the competition benefit from feedback at all stages, access to business planning workshops, unique networking opportunities and access to angel investors, and mentorship support throughout the competition.
Plio Surgical has been announced as the winner of the InterTradeIreland all-island Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, walking away with a cash prize of €100,000 to invest in their business. Plio Surgical also won the Best Early-Stage category on the night while Cotter Agritech won Best New Start category on the night, also taking home €50,000.
Plio Surgical is a spin-out of Trinity College Dublin developing an innovative magnetic anastomosis device for gastrointestinal surgery. The company is at pre-clinical stage and plans to undertake the clinical and regulatory activities required to enter the USA market first followed by European markets.
Cristina Purtill, CEO of Plio Surgical, said she is delighted that Plio Surgical were chosen as a winner in the Seedcorn competition. “The standard was very high so we’re over the moon. This is our second time applying. The first time we received really good feedback and we realised we needed to go back and think of the different aspects of our business plan and really crystalise our strategy more. The second time, we submitted a stronger business plan and it has paid off.
Going forward, we are looking to raise a €3.6 million round to conduct our first clinical trials to bring our device to patients so winning is hugely beneficial to us.”
This year’s Seedcorn final was contested by eight regional finalists from across the island of Ireland. As part of the process, the finalists presented their investment pitch to a panel of judges including Richard Kennedy (InterTradeIreland ), Gerry Maguire (Atlantic Bridge Ventures and IVCA ), Debbie Rennick (Act Venture Capital ), and Eoghan Quigley (Angel. )
For information on Seedcorn visit: www.intertradeireland.com/seedcorn
