ByoWave named ‘Best Early Stage’ company in national competition

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Shane O'Hanlon, Funding for Growth Manager at InterTradeIreland and Eibhlin O’Riordan, co-founder of ByoWave.

Galway firm ByoWave has been named ‘Best Early Stage’ company at the Connacht and Leinster regional final of the 2022 InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition.

ByoWave presented an investment proposal to a panel of judges that included active investors, and fought off tough competition to walk away with €20,000 and a place in the overall Seedcorn final later this month.

The winners from four regions will go head-to-head in Belfast on 24 November.

ByoWave makes modular, accessible and customisable video game controllers for people with disabilities.

Co-founder Eibhlin O’Riordan said: “Accessibility barriers affect 40% of gamers who have a disability, and they are being socially excluded from one the world’s most popular forms of interacting.”

Brandon Blacoe, CEO and co-founder of ByoWave, said that they are grateful to the Seedcorn programme team for all their support and encouragement as part of the competition.

“Eibhlin and I have been working with disabled gamers for the past two and a half years to engineer solutions that help people overcome this barrier” he said.

“We are delighted to secure the incredible €20,000 prize fund from the regional heat towards our product development.”

Established in 2003, Seedcorn has helped more than 6,900 companies, giving entrants the opportunity to become investor ready, with expert feedback on business plans and pitches, and exposure to real life investors.