AccountsIQ raises €3.5m in investment funding
Dublin software firm AccountsIQ has raised €3.5 million in investment funding in a round led by managed services firm Data Electronics.
Accounts IQ founder and managing director Tony Connolly said that Data Electronics had invested in the company because it was already involved in the cloud computing sector and knew the market well.
‘‘It’s not an investment where they will be offering our product to their customers. They are simply knowledgeable about the space and diversifying their interests. They know this is a growth market,” Connolly said.
Existing investors in Accounts IQ also participated in the new funding round, including Enterprise Equity and the AIB Seed Capital Fund as well as software industry veteran Gerry McKeown, who also serves as the firm’s non-executive chairman.
Accounts IQ develops web based accountancy packages which are marketed to accountancy firms and businesses.
Connolly said that the new investment would be used to fund the firm’s international expansion.
‘‘We will continue product development and we have a lot of plans in terms of improvements we will make to it. But it will be largely used to internationalise the product and bring it to new markets. In the first place, Britain is a big target for us. It’s a huge market and you need some marketing clout to get the name in there,” he said.
The company, which started life as Visor in 2004 before rebranding recently, now has 15 staff. Connolly said that the cash injection would mean that this number was likely to grow over the coming year as it took on additional people for research and development, training and support.
The firm enjoyed a significant business win earlier this year, when it signed a deal with Deloitte Australia, which will see Deloitte sell on its software to Australian customers. Since then, the firm has enjoyed a steady deal flow from smaller customers.
‘‘The area that we are doing well in is the franchise space and we’ve signed up a couple of good franchises in Australia.
That’s a market where having the product online helps because there are different businesses in disparate locations.
We also have a quite a number of accountants using it in Ireland and Britain,” Connolly said.
The firm’s business model is built around recurring revenues, something Connolly said could be slow to build up, but very sustainable in the long term. The company expects turnover to be north of €1 million next year and is targeting €10 million in 2011.
