Galway medical device startup Nua Surgical emerged as the overall winner in this year’s InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, earning a cash prize of €100,000.

Established in 2018 by Barry McCann, Padraig Maher and Marie Therese Maher, Nua Surgical has developed a surgical device to make Caesarean Sections safer. The company reached the regional finals of the Seedcorn competition in 2019.

Nua Surgical is based in NUI Galway, where its founding team secured an Enterprise Ireland commercialisation fund to bring the project from early stage concept to commercialisation.

Other winners in this year’s Seedcorn competition were GenoMe Diagnostics, which won the Best New Start category and received a cash prize of €50,000.

In addition, Belfast-based software company Sonrai Analytics won a special award of €10,000, for the best company stemming from a university spinout or support programme. The company has developed a data integration platform for biotech and pharma to accelerate disease research.

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Speaking about his company’s win Nua Surgical CEO Barry McCann said that Seedcorn had been a tremendous journey. “Our success in Seedcorn is great validation of our investment opportunity; it demonstrates that we are now investor-ready. This win is another stepping stone in bringing the device to market, where we can really make a difference in women’s health.”

Ken Nelson, chairman of InterTradeIreland, said that Seedcorn aims to nurture and promote the growth of new enterprises across the island of Ireland. “After a difficult year, it’s extremely encouraging to see the wealth of enthusiasm, innovative thinking and ambition that these businesses – both North and South - bring to the table.”

The Seedcorn competition will open again in March 2021.

Photo: Nua Surgical founders Marie-Therese Maher, Barry McCann (centre) and Padraig Maher