Media Lightbox has won €50,000 prize money and the best emerging company title at the finals of the All Island Seedcorn Business Competition 08, held in Belfast.

Media Lightbox, set up in 2006 by Shane Meehan and Anthony Kieran, offers an innovative web-based media asset solution for storing and sharing media files in formats such as images, video, audio, and pdfs.

Seedcorn, the biggest business competition in Ireland, with a €280,000 prize fund, is run by Newry-based cross-border business development organisation InterTradeIreland. The best emerging international company title and prize money of €100,000 went to Mcor Technologies from Ardee, run by Conor, Fintan and Deirdre MacCormack.

John McGuinness, the Irish Minister for Trade & Commerce, said that although the current economic climate was difficult, he was confident that indigenous companies would continue to play a critical role.

He said: “After all, today’s budding entrepreneurs are tomorrow’s big employers. That is why initiatives such as the Seedcorn competition, a flagship initiative of InterTradeIreland, are so important.”

Dr Gerard O’Hare, the chairman of EquityNetwork, the programme which runs the competition, told the audience at the Ramada Hotel that companies which had entered Seedcorn in the past had raised over €84m of new equity funding.

He said: “Tonight is evidence that the island as a whole can produce business leaders capable of developing new, innovative ventures which can ultimately make their mark on the world stage.

“It requires risk-taking and sharing, passion and commitment, collaboration and learning, and — most of all — the will to succeed.” Prizes of €20,000 each were also presented to the winners of the Seedcorn regional heats for Northern Ireland, Dublin, Munster and Connacht & Leinster.

Learning Pool of Derry won the Northern Ireland regional heat for emerging international companies.

Learning Pool provides a suite of e-learning subscription services to the UK public sector to help individuals and organisations improve service and encourage legislative awareness.