ArrayPatch announced as overall winner of the 2025 InterTradeIreland all-island Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition
ArrayPatch has been announced as the winner of the InterTradeIreland all-island Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, walking away with a cash prize of €130,000 to invest in their business. ArrayPatch also won the Deep Tech category while Gigi Supplements and HaPPE Earth won in the B2C and B2B categories, each taking home €100,000. Slice of Life, a Dublin based food start-up company, won the Impact Award, taking home €20,000.
The Seedcorn competition aims to improve the investor readiness of innovative new-start and early-stage businesses across the island. 2025 saw a new increased total competition prize fund of €800,000, with a new primary focus on ensuring a broad range of winners across all categories. Participants in the competition also continue to benefit from access to business planning workshops, unique networking opportunities and access to angel investors, and mentorship support throughout the competition to help them secure vital funding and support to drive their growth.
Overall winner, ArrayPatch, is a Cork-based biotech spinout. It is developing DerMap™, a next-generation pain free dissolving microneedle technology which penetrates the skin barrier, dissolves and releases medication precisely at the target site. By repurposing proven drug compounds and bypassing the need for invasive treatments, ArrayPatch is creating a platform with the potential to transform how conditions such as nail fungal infections, skin cancers, migraines and metabolic diseases are treated.
B2C Category Winner
Gigi Supplements has been named the B2C category winner. Founded by Nutritional Therapists, the Dublin-based start-up creates science-backed supplements designed to support female hormonal health, including its debut product, the PMS & Hormone Balance Blend.
B2B Category Winner
HaPPE Earth has taken home the top prize in the competition’s B2B category. Founded in Cork, the company is tackling one of healthcare’s biggest environmental challenges, single-use plastic PPE waste. HaPPE Earth makes fully compostable personal protective equipment, which is then converted into fertiliser.
Impact Award
Dublin-based company, Slice of Life won the Impact Award, receiving a cash prize of €20,000. Slice of Life pizzas give you three of your five a day, are high in protein and only 500 calories, and are available in Tesco and Lidl across Dublin, Meath and Kildare.
Congratulating the winners, Margaret Hearty, Chief Executive at InterTradeIreland, said: “The broad spectrum of businesses that participated in this year’s InterTradeIreland Seedcorn competition highlights the strength and vitality of the entrepreneurial ecosystem across the island. Each year, the competition attracts innovative start-ups and early-stage companies operating at the forefront of their respective sectors, and this year has been no exception.
“This year’s overall winner, ArrayPatch epitomises the very best of what businesses across the island of Ireland have to offer and we are proud to support them at this early and very important stage of their development. InterTradeIreland extends its congratulations to all participants, wishing them every success as they continue to grow and develop their businesses.”
This year’s Seedcorn final was contested by 12 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 Martin Agnew, Director or Corporate Services, InterTradeIreland, Dominic Kearns, Chief Executive, Fibrus, Mairead Roche, Investment Associate, ACT Venture Capital, Claudine Owens, Investment Manager, Clarendon, Fidelma McGurk, Founder and CEO, Payslip, Martin Robinson, Director of Strategy, InterTradeIreland, Niamh Sterling, Entrepreneur in Residence, DogPatch Labs, Andrew McGreal, Investment Director, BVP, Michael Dawson, Investor, Carl Murray, Investor, Teresa Chambers, Angel Investor, HBAN, Karole Egan, Head of Scaling Finance, Enterprise Ireland, Andrew Parish, Partner, Wake Up Capital, Barry Brennan, Venture Capital, Elkstone Ventures, Declan O’Mahoney, Chairman, Equal 1 Labs, Richard Kennedy, Chair of InterTradeIreland and Caroline Gaynor, Chairperson of IVCA.
