The second 12-week Prep4Seed Programme of 2023 culminated today atthe Investor Pitch Day when 11 start-ups pitched to an audience of AngelInvestors & VCs at Enterprise Ireland’s headquarters. The programme,delivered by the four Irish Business Innovation Centres (BICs), incollaboration with Enterprise Ireland, prepares start-up clients for seedinvestment bringing participants through the investor readiness process quicklyand effectively.
The 11 Irish basedearly-stage companies pitching for over €10 million in investment were from avariety of industry sectors including: FinTech, DeepTech, Renewables, MedTEch,ICT, Food and EdTech.
The Companies participating include: CustomsWindow, Emere Procurement, Everywhere English, Hibra Design, Konree Innovation,Maya Data Privacy, REClosure, RetroKit, Skippio, Voice Tune and FemtechHealthcare.
Mike Keane, CEO ofHibra Design - a Cork based company - was awarded the One to Watch Award. HibraDesign, an automotive engineering development company, develops sustainable andbespoke vehicle solutions that allow fossil-fuel powered vehicles to bere-engineered with battery, electric or hydrogen fuel cell systems.
Daniel Coen, Skippiotook home the Best Pitch Award. Skippio is a new innovative pre-ordering andpayment solution for large-scale venues and events that significantly reducesfood and beverage queueing times.
Leo McAdams,Divisional Manager, Enterprise Ireland said: “The Prep4Seed programme, in collaboration with the four BICs hasshown to be an effective building platform to nurture entrepreneurs and the enterpriseleaders of the future. The start-ups represented here todaywill continue to be the driving force behind the development in innovationacross all regions as well as export growth. I wouldlike to congratulate Skippio and Hibra Design on their awards today and all the participants on the programme and to commendthe hard work it took to get them to this point. Enterprise Ireland looksforward to supporting these high-growth start-ups on their investment journey.”
Commenting on her participation in the 2023 Prep4Seed Programme, Margaret Rae, Managing Director & Co-Founder of KonreeInnovation said that, “The Prep4Seed programme does what it says - it firstly focuses youto consider all of the aspects of your company from an investor perspective.Each company is then provided with tailored direction in preparing theirinvestor pitch and company documentation in a streamlined and highly supportiveprocess.”
Participants attended five Masterclasses run by the Irish BICS and tailoredone-to-one meetings with experienced BIC consultants which covered a broadrange of areas including Sales & Marketing, FinancialModelling, Market Validation, Pitching & Investment and Company Foundation.Participants were also broughtthrough intensive investor pitch preparation sessions and trial pitches preparingthem for today’s Investor Day.
To date 42 start-ups have participatedin Prep4Seed 12-week investor-ready programme delivered nationally by the IrishBICs: Furthr, South East BIC, CorkBIC and WestBIC in collaboration withEnterprise Ireland.
For more information on the next Prep4Seed programme, contact our team on info@southeastbic.ie
