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UCC spin-out ArrayPatch announced as winners of 2025 InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Awards
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ArrayPatch, a spin-out company from University College Cork’s (UCC) School of Pharmacy has been announced as overall winner of the all-island final of the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition 2025.
Following their regional final win last month, ArrayPatch emerged victorious among other finalists to take home the top prize of €130K. The InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition is Ireland’s premier investor-readiness programme designed to help startups refine their business plans and secure investment.
ArrayPatch provides healthcare professionals with a more advanced drug delivery option that helps to improve patient outcomes. The company’s proprietary microneedle platform, DerMap, delivers medications through the skin without the need for injections, offering a new approach for both pharmaceutical partners and patients. The company is continuing to gain momentum, expanding its portfolio of innovations and partnerships across Europe, the USA, and Asia.
“Becoming the overall Seedcorn winner is a powerful validation of both our technology and our vision.” said Dr Waleed Faisal, CEO of ArrayPatch. “ArrayPatch was founded to make effective therapies easier, safer, and more accessible for patients, and this recognition highlights the transformative potential of DerMap in reshaping how medicines are delivered. We’re incredibly proud of how far we’ve come, and even more excited for the next chapter of growth. The momentum is real, and this is just the beginning."
Prof John Cryan, Vice President for Research and Innovation at UCC said: “Congratulations to Waleed and the entire ArrayPatch team on this win. It’s wonderful to see a technology with such impact, rooted in UCC’s world-class research, receive this recognition from InterTradeIreland. UCC Futures - Future Pharmaceuticals is advancing knowledge which underpins discovery, development and manufacturing, and this achievement from ArrayPatch is a great example of this advancement in action.”
Dr Sally Cudmore, Director of UCC Innovation added: “Congratulations to ArrayPatch team on being named all-island winners of the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition 2025. The award is testament to the impact that Arraypatch and their microneedle platform technology are making – and will continue to make – in the global healthcare sector. We look forward to watching ArrayPatch go from strength to strength, and all of us at UCC are very proud of this achievement.”
The InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Competition is one of the island’s most competitive startup programmes, designed to bridge the gap between early innovation and investor readiness.