3 WestBIC supported companies pitch for €4.5m at Enterprise Ireland’s Headquarters
Photographed left to right: Dylan Creane (Co-founder & CMO, Elevre Medical), Miriam Savage (Co-founder & CEO, Elevre Medical), John Brennan (CEO, WestBIC), Mary Ryan (Deputy CEO, WestBIC), Robert McFeely (CEO, Octiga), Gavin Duffy (Founder & CEO, Trigr), Chantal Costello (Marketing & Project Officer, WestBIC).
The Prep4Seed 12-week Programme culminated on Tuesday May 16th at the Investor Pitch Day when 13 companies pitched to an audience packed with Angel Investors & VCs in Enterprise Ireland headquarters for a combined total of €15m. The programme, run by the Irish BICs prepares Enterprise Ireland Startup clients for seed investment opportunities and brings clients through the investor readiness process quickly and effectively.
The 3 companies mentored by WestBIC which took part in the intensive programme were Elevre Medical, a MedTech company developing a breathlessness treatment for people living with COPD. Octiga, a Office 365 security management and monitoring for managed service providers, and Trigr, a financial planning solution for the media industry. These companies pitched for a total investment of €4.5million.
“Start-ups are a powerful driver of economic growth, new talent and innovation. At Enterprise Ireland we are committed to helping founders to start and grow their business internationally. The Prep4Seed programme, in collaboration with the four BICs is an effective building platform to nurture our future enterprise leaders and their businesses.” said Leo McAdams, Divisional Manager at Enterprise Ireland.
“Participating in the Prep4Seed programme has really focussed our Investor Pitch and preparation and we feel more confident presenting to Investors as a result. The Masterclasses were exceptional but the 1–2–1s really enabled us to apply the learnings to our own business.” — Prep4Seed Particpant.
The Prep4Seed programme includes four Masterclasses run by the Irish BICS and six 1–2–1s with tailored client-led bespoke activity with experienced BIC consultants. The 1–2–1s ensure content from the Masterclasses is applied in a relevant and valuable way to each company. The individual, tailored company focus, for which the BICs are well known, brings these startup clients through the investor readiness process quickly and effectively.
Participants were also brought through intensive investor pitch preparation sessions and trial pitches which prepared them for today’s Investor Day. These all combined to instill confidence in the founders, focus the participants on the end goal of pitching for investment, and opens doors for future conversations with investors.
Elevre Medical, Octiga and Trigr from the West & Northwest of Ireland. Companies from the rest of Ireland as supported by CorkBIC, Southeast BIC & Furthr included: Size Wise, Genicity, Dogdry, CRAOI, Great Island, Seriously Sound Food, My Gug, Babogue, Fair Select and Binarii Labs.
The calibre of companies shows the prosperous future ahead for entrepreneurship and innovation in Ireland! WestBIC would like to wish all of the Prep4Seed participants the very best of luck going forward and we look forward to collaborating in the future.
