START-up and early stage firms seeking to ramp up their funding are being urged to enter InterTradeIreland's seedcorn investor readiness competition for a chance to win a share of a €280,000 cash prize fund.
Downpatrick company Jumpack Ltd, which sells the world's first portable extreme sports ramp for use with skateboards, BMXs, mountain bikes, scooters and snowboards, won the best new start category last year and pocketed €20,000.
And its founder and chief executive Phil McIntosh is encouraging fledgling businesses to take the jump by entering Seedcorn, initial applications for which must be submitted by 1pm on Friday May 31 (more information at www.intertradeireland.com/seedcorn)
He said: “We only started trading last year, and while we were confident our concept would be embraced by the extreme sports industry, the commercial planning was extremely important to us.
“The whole Seedcorn process forced us to look at the business from an external perspective, questioning everything. It helped us understand our organisation better, as well as our potential markets."
He added: “Our success in Seedcorn also affirmed our business plan is strong in the eyes of equity experts, which is extremely encouraging. The €20,000 cash prize will help us to recruit an additional employee to support our digital marketing function.”
The Seedcorn competition mirrors the challenging real-life investment process. Participants are advised on how to develop their business plan, present business propositions, improve their ‘investor readiness’, gain exposure with venture capitalists, angel and other investors and increase the profile of their business.
Since the competition’s inception in 2003, the total awarded to innovative companies stands at €4.5mn, and companies that have been supported span a range of sectors from manufacturing to technology, diagnostics and sport.
Shane O’Hanlon, funding for growth manager, InterTradeIreland, said: “Seedcorn recognises and nurtures entrepreneurship, innovation and new ventures and offers businesses who are at a critical stage of their development the opportunity to accelerate their development by drawing upon the guidance of a team of experts.
“Seed finance can be notoriously hard to attract, so this competition is an opportunity for ambitious start-ups to get their new ideas off the ground.”