Waterford Company Wins Munster Final of Intertradeireland Seedcorn Competition

Waterford Company wins Munster final of InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Competition

~ Kollect secures €20,000 cash prize and goes forward to national final ~

2nd November 2016 – Waterford company, Kollect, was today named the Best New Start company at the Munster final of the 2016 InterTradeIreland All-Island Seedcorn Investor Readiness competition. Kollect, which is based in Waterford Enterprise Centre, overcame tough competition from three other companies to win €20,000 in funding to help finance the early stages of its venture. The company will now go on to compete in the all-island final of the competition for a share of €150,000 cash prize, which will take place on Wednesday 23rd November at The Waterfront Hall, Belfast.

Kollect is a booking engine for on-demand, pay-as-you-go bin collections. Customers can simply book when they need their bins collected. Kollect takes bookings through Kollect.ie where users enter their address, select what bins they would like to have collected and then pay for their order. The dates of the collection are returned to the users online. There are no contracts or no monthly fees. Kollect partners with waste collection companies, adding their routes to the online platform, so, when a customer books a collection online, the booking engine simply subcontracts the collection to the next bin truck passing their home.

Now in its 14th year, Seedcorn is the island’s biggest business competition for new start and early stage companies in any sector, from any part of the island. The competition, aimed at companies who have a new equity funding requirement, has an overall cash prize fund of €280,000, with no equity stake. Since its inception in 2003, 2,151 companies that have gone through Seedcorn have raised in excess of €200m - measuring investments by companies who have reached regional final level. Last year alone, in excess of €10m was raised.

Robbie Skuse, Co-founder, Kollect said; “I am absolutely delighted that Kollect has won the New Start category of the Seedcorn Munster regional final. We have gained so much from this experience so far and it has helped us to improve our offering in so many ways. Participating in Seedcorn allows us to take a step back from the day-to-day operations of the business, to hone our focus on where we want to go. The focus on pitching and setting goals allows us to set out a vision for the future of the company, beyond simply expanding our customer base. Seedcorn offers us so many supports to help get investor and expansion ready.” Connor Sweeney, Seedcorn Project Manager, InterTradeIreland added; “With a total cash prize fund of €280,000, Seedcorn is the largest business competition on the island of Ireland. Furthermore, it is widely considered by the Irish business and investment community to be the gold standard for new and emerging businesses. As well as offering an equity stake to businesses, it also gives businesses experience of pitching to investors and helps entrepreneurs hone their skills.

“ Since the competition began 14 years ago we have seen a huge variety of businesses compete, with the standard rising even further year after year. Therefore I wish to heartily congratulate Kollect on their win today. It is always exciting to work with companies at an early stage in their development. The initial period of development is crucial for the success of all business and it is for this reason that the Seedcorn competition is such an exciting event to be involved in.”

The all-island final will take place at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on the 23 rd November, where Kollect will go head-to-head with the winners of the Northern Ireland, Dublin and Connacht & Leinster finals for the title of Best New Start Company worth €50,000 and ultimately the Overall Winner title, worth €100,000.

Companies can follow the Competition on Twitter (@ITI_seedcorn) where they can get valuable information and advice from experts.

Further details are also available on the Seedcorn website at www.intertradeireland.com/seedcorn

For further information:

Michael Ward / Luke McDonnell

Drury|Porter Novelli

01 260 5000

087 213 0445 / 085 712 7243 (LMcD)

[email protected] / [email protected]

Notes to Editors

The Munster regional final comprised companies from counties Waterford, Cork and Limerick. About the competition

InterTradeIreland’s Seedcorn Competition is the largest investor readiness competition for early stage/high growth companies in any sector on any part of the island. The competition, aimed at companies that have a new equity funding requirement, has a record total cash prize fund of €280,000.

Businesses can enter in one of the two categories; new start or early stage and there are four regions; Northern Ireland, Dublin (City & County), Munster, and Connacht & Leinster (including counties Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan).

Companies submit their application along with a visual representation of the business idea. Shortlisted companies are invited to submit a full business plan and, if successful, are invited to deliver an investment pitch in front of the judging panel comprising of venture capitalists, business angels and some of the island’s leading industry experts and entrepreneurs.

Throughout each stage of the competition, companies will be judged on various criteria including financial performance, company milestones and achievements, future strategy for the business, the management team in place and the quality of the pitch to the judging panel. Feedback is provided to companies at each stage of the competition process.