13^th March 2024 — The third Prep4Seed 12-week Programme started today in Kilkenny with a Masterclass on Market Planning and Business Validation run by South East BIC and Furthr. The programme, delivered by the four Irish Business Innovation Centres (BICs), in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland brings high growth start-up clients through the investor readiness process quickly and effectively.

12 companies were selected from all over Ireland from a variety of industry sectors including Industrial, Life Sciences, FinTech, Food and ICT.

Leo McAdams, Divisional Manager, Enterprise Ireland said: “Start-up companies are a driver of innovation and economic growth. At Enterprise Ireland, we are committed to helping founders start and scale their business internationally. The Prep4Seed programme, delivered in collaboration with the four BICs, is an effective platform from which to launch and nurture our future enterprise leaders and their businesses. I am pleased to see the wide regional spread of companies across a range sectors engaging in this programme and we look forward to supporting these high-growth start-ups on their investment journey.”

Opening the first Prep4Seed Masterclass in Kilkenny, Aidan Shine, CEO South East BIC said: “We are delighted to welcome the kick-off event and first Masterclass of Prep4Seed to the South East. Kilkenny is home to leading Fintech, ICT and Life Science companies with multinationals such as Clunetech and Carne Group as well as Enterprise Ireland startup clients Loanitt, CR Payroll, Telenostics and many more. It is fitting to launch Prep4Seed today in Kilkenny when so many of this cohort’s Prep4Seed participants are building innovative solutions in these sectors”.

Commenting on participation in the Prep4Seed Programme, Tim Roche, CEO, BioEnz Technologies said “We are delighted to be selected for Prep4Seed. Having raised pre-seed funding with Enterprise Ireland in 2023; we are confident that participation in this programme will greatly facilitate our preparation for the seed phase of our funding journey”.

The Prep4Seed programme includes five Masterclasses run by the Irish BICS and six one-to-one meetings concentrating on client-led bespoke activity with experienced BIC consultants. The one-to-ones ensures that content from the Masterclasses is applied in a relevant way to each company. The individual, tailored company focus, brings these start-up companies through the investor readiness process quickly and effectively. Participants are also brought through intensive investor pitch preparation sessions and trial pitches preparing them for Investor Pitch Day.

The 12-week programme culminates with the Investor Pitch Day in May, where all companies will pitch to Investors and VCs at Enterprise Ireland’s HQ in Dublin.

The participating companies are: Addaptiv IT, Agri Data Analytics, Arivu Labs Limited, BioEnz Technologies, EudaOrg, Inflverse, Omuu Pet, One Bill, Scopey, Smile Genius Dental, Tarracor Robotics Ltd and Wavescope Ltd.