AuditComply, a high-growth software company headquartered in Belfast has become the first business to benefit from technology and investment as part of the strategic partnership between First Derivatives and BGF. AuditComply will use the new funding from BGF and existing investors Clarendon/CoFundNI together with First Derivatives’ Kx technology to accelerate its growth.
Founded by tech entrepreneur Kevin Donaghy, AuditComply provides enterprise risk management software across the engineering, manufacturing, food and logistics industries. Its customers include Autoliv, UniTrunk and KDD. The company, which has grown rapidly since it was set up in 2014, operates in a market driven by mounting regulatory pressure related to enterprise risk management.
AuditComply will use First Derivatives’ Kx technology and expertise to develop new software modules that will provide powerful, real-time analytics for supply chain auditing.
The First Derivatives and BGF partnership combines access to BGF’s £2.5bn balance sheet and network of board level executives with First Derivatives’ technology and support.
Together, the mix of equity and technology has been designed to help high-potential and established companies scaleup through unlocking new markets or disrupting existing ones.
Kevin Donaghy, CEO, AuditComply said: “As a high-tech start-up going through significant growth we are very excited to be working with BGF and First Derivatives to help grow the company and become a leader in enterprise risk management. With customers in healthcare, automotive, manufacturing and retail, we need the support of our partners to capitalise in this exciting market.”
Matt Singh, BGF said: “There is a clear opportunity for AuditComply to capitalise on the momentum by continuing to strengthen its platform. The team, led by Kevin, is experienced and ambitious and we are delighted to be backing them.
“We are also pleased that this is our first investment as part of our strategic partnership with First Derivatives, which further extends BGF’s reach into earlier stage businesses. BGF’s network, and our connections to industry experts such as First Derivatives, are helping us to get even more capital to more companies in the UK & Ireland.”
Brian Conlon, CEO, First Derivatives said: “We are pleased that AuditComply has chosen Kx to support its exciting growth plans and help it scale in a rapidly growing market. Kx is a key enabler of disruption across multiple industries and is ideally suited as a platform to manage the most demanding analytics challenges. We are particularly pleased to have worked alongside BGF on this agreement and look forward to building on our strategic partnership through similar deals in the future.”
Part of the funding into AuditComply has been provided by CoFundNI which is managed by Clarendon Fund Managers.
Brian Cummings from Clarendon said: “This is not only a significant investment for a CoFundNI portfolio company, but also for Northern Ireland’s maturing venture capital market. We are delighted to co-invest with BGF and First Derivatives in their inaugural partnership investment.”
About BGF and First Derivatives: BGF is the UK’s most active provider of growth capital to small and mid-sized businesses and recently announced a major commitment with the Irish Strategic Investment Fund to build a similar capability in the Republic of Ireland. First Derivatives’ Kx technology, incorporating the kdb+ time-series database, is a leader in high-performance, in-memory computing, streaming analytics and operational intelligence. BGF and First Derivatives signed a strategic partnership agreement in February 2017 to support developing companies by providing access to BGF’s £2.5 billion balance sheet and FD’s Kx technology. The aim is to turn bright ideas into disruptive companies in some of the most exciting areas of the economy.
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About Clarendon / CoFundNI: Clarendon Fund Managers manages Co-Fund NI on behalf of InvestNI. The fund is supported by the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth & Jobs Northern Ireland Programme (2014-2020). CoFundNI invests with private investors such as business angels and institutions into eligible SMEs based in Northern Ireland, and provides up to 50 per cent of equity investment alongside 50 per cent from private investors on a deal-by-deal basis. For more information visit www.cofundni.com.
