Business

Arthritis implant device grabs top Seedcorn prize in Belfast

Seedcorn winners Brendan Boland from Loci Orthopaedics and Suzanne Moloney from HidraMed Solutions. Photo: Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye
Seedcorn winners Brendan Boland from Loci Orthopaedics and Suzanne Moloney from HidraMed Solutions. Photo: Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye Seedcorn winners Brendan Boland from Loci Orthopaedics and Suzanne Moloney from HidraMed Solutions. Photo: Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye

LOCI Orthopaedics from Galway was adjudged overall winner of the 2018 InterTradeIreland Seedcorn investor readiness competition, taking home a cash prize of €100,000 at the final held at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast.

Based in the Business Innovation Centre at the National University of Ireland, Loci has developed InDx, an implant for the treatment of thumb base joint arthritis, which fully re-creates the natural motions of the joint post implantation.

It beat off seven other finalists, including two from the north - Downpatrick-based Jumpack Ltd and NeuroCONCISE from Derry.

Loci Orthopaedics chief executive and co-founder Brendan Boland said: “The Seedcorn competition has been an incredibly challenging and rewarding experience, and we thank the judges and organisers for the expert advice and constructive feedback provided along the way.

“The prize money will prove invaluable in supporting our orthopaedic joint implant InDx at such a crucial stage in its development and will allow us to invest in securing additional personnel and provide further support for expansion.”

The other main winner on the night was HidraMed Solutions, also from Galway, which won the Best New Start Category award and a cash prize of €50,000.

However, NeuroCONCISE and Jumpack each walked away with a €20,000 cash prize after they were recognised as the Northern Ireland winners of the best early stage company and best new start company respectively.

Now in its 16th year, Seedcorn is Ireland’s biggest business competition for innovative new start and early stage businesses in any sector. As well as a substantial cash prize fund, participants benefit from promotional, business planning workshops and mentorship support throughout the competition.

InterTradeIreland chairman Ken Nelson said: “Seedcorn recognises and nurtures entrepreneurship, innovation and new ventures, and provides young companies - who are at a critical stage of their development - the opportunity to really put their proposition to the test.

“The quality of the business plans throughout the competition has been of an extremely high standard, and this year’s participants are testament to the innovation and entrepreneurial excellence of small businesses, north and south.

To date, InterTradeIreland has supported more than 2,300 enterprising companies through the Seedcorn process.

Some €238 million in new equity has been raised by the companies which have reached the regional finals stage of the competition over the past 16 years.