New start and early stage businesses across the island of Ireland have been encouraged to enter the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, with a chance to win a share of the €300,000 prize fund.

While the competition gives innovative start-ups the opportunity to bag the top prize of €100,000, entrants can benefit from expert feedback on their business plans and pitches, as well as exposure to real life investors, helping these ambitious start-ups and early stage businesses become investor ready. The prize fund also includes a €20,000 award for the best investment proposal from a company operating in the sustainability / low carbon sector.

InterTradeIreland’s sales export programme Acumen, can help businesses fund and recruit an experienced sales person to win new sales in the cross-border market.

The programme funding has increased and will now provide up to £17,250/€21,562 towards the salary of a skilled sales professional. 

It will also provide direct support to recruit the right person, with hands on support at every stage - saving businesses time, reducing risk and enhancing skills and productivity.

As official event partner InterTradeIreland is looking forward to attending the upcoming Procurex Ireland Event on 26th April in the RDS, Dublin.

Procurex Ireland – featuring P4H Ireland, the procurement event for health – brings together key decision makers and market-leading suppliers who contribute to the ongoing delivery and strategic development of public sector and healthcare procurement from across Ireland.

If your business is looking to enter the cross-border market, but not sure where to start, InterTradeIreland’s Elevate programme can help discover what’s possible.

With up to £5,000/€5,750 worth of specialist export consultancy available, Micro-Enterprises can benefit from expert advice to get export ready, including developing a business plan and help to generate leads to fast track cross-border exports.

InterTradeIreland will be hosting a free breakfast briefing on 18th May in Clayton Hotel, Silver Springs, Cork. The event is being held for businesses in the south-west of Ireland to increase their awareness of export opportunities in Northern Ireland, as well as the potential to use Northern Ireland as a launchpad to other export markets.

By providing access to information, support and funding, we can make cross-border exporting easier for businesses by saving time, reducing risk and enhancing skills and productivity. The event will provide businesses with information on our key programmes, including details of:

• Funding
• Support packages
• Eligibility
• How to access support

The InterTradeIreland trade team, including our south-west regional representative, Peter Madden, will also be available on the day to speak to businesses and answer any queries.

On 15^th May, eTenders will launch a new platform providing businesses in Ireland and Northern Ireland with access to procurement opportunities within the public sector. Businesses can log on and confirm their details to access the platform from 15 May onwards, with new competitions to be published on the platform from 22nd May.

The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform has published Circular 05/2023: Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement. The circular has been developed with a view to encouraging public bodies to adopt measures that will further enable SMEs to compete for public contracts.