Sports Impact Technologies Named a Regional Winner in 2024 InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Competition
Sports Impact Technologies has been named the winner of the ‘Best New Start’ Award in the Connacht and Leinster regional final of this year’s InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition.
Sports Impact Technologies received a €20,000 prize and will now advance to the All-Island final in Belfast on 7 November next.
The InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition is the largest business competition of its kind on the island of Ireland, offering a total prize fund of €300,000 to promising start-ups and early-stage businesses.
Sports Impact Technologies, a NovaUCD and ESA BIC Ireland client company, is developing a sports wearable that detects all head impacts as they happen. The solution they have developed is both sports and player agnostic, meaning that it can be worn for any player for any sport.
“We entered last year’s competition and gained excellent feedback on our business and materials. We are delighted to be regional winners this year. The workshops and the feedback has been quite rewarding.
Specific honest feedback is so valuable when coming from experts. It is great to review your business plan and address any gaps that have been highlighted. We have a lot of development going on so the prize money will be a huge assistance to help with our hardware development and testing,” said Eóin Tuohy, who is from Wicklow, the founder and CEO, Sports Impact Technologies.
Grá Chocolates, makers of exquisite artisan confections, based in Galway, won the ‘Best Early Stage’ Award in the Connacht and Leinster regional final.
Sports Impact Technologies and Grá Chocolates emerged victorious from a group of six innovative start-up and early-stage businesses representing Connacht and Leinster, which also included BackAware, Replikate.AI/ Evolve Neuro, Pumpinheart and Suil Pharma.
The regional final, held Athlone, saw the finalists pitch their investment proposals to a panel of judges, including active investors. The Connacht and Leinster regional winners will now compete for the overall prize of €100,000 at the final in Belfast next month.
“Congratulations to all the finalists who participated in our Connacht and Leinster Regional Finals. The competition is always intense, and the innovation we see continues to impress year after year. A big congratulations to Sports Impact Technologies and Grá Chocolates for securing their spots in the Belfast finals next month. We expect the competition to be equally impressive,” said Shane O’Hanlon, Funding for Growth Manager at InterTradeIreland.
For start-ups and early-stage businesses, the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor-Readiness Competition provides a platform to demonstrate why these companies believe they are ‘investor ready’ and open to a funding injection.
As part of the regional finals, companies pitched their business plan to a panel of industry judges that included Martin Agnew (InterTradeIreland), Alison Reid (Invest NI) and Denise McQuaid (Awaken Angels).
The process mirrored a real-life investment process, and each finalist has received expert feedback on its business plan and pitch, as well as increased exposure to investors.
ENDS
18 October 2024
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, UCD Research and Innovation, NovaUCD e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie.
Editors Notes
Find out more about the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition visit https://intertradeireland.com/funding/seedcorn/
Find out more about Sports Impact Technologies visit https://sportsimpacttechnologies.com/