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UCC spin out gets funds to expand

Thursday, October 11 14:41:58

Cork-based UCC spin-out company Keelvar Systems has announced that it has secured E750k in a funding round led by ACT Venture Capital and with investment from Enterprise Equity and Enterprise Ireland.

The company has developed software that makes the auction and tendering process for government procurement more efficient and cost effective.

The funding will be used to increase staff numbers to 18 and expand the company's innovative procurement optimisation service for large scale government tenders and multi-national companies.

The investment was made from seed funds supported by AIB; lead investor ACT investing from its AIB Start-Up Accelerator Fund and Enterprise Equity from the AIB Seed Capital Fund.

Keelvar CEO Alan Holland said that his company's software-as-a-service helps purchasers establish a balanced and cost effective outcome between large and small suppliers, which can be critical to indigenous industry.

"It is a price gathering mechanism that supports communication of creative ways in which waste can be removed, helping Government departments and multi-national companies reduce costs. The market opportunity is huge, global and timely due to the technology's ability to help resolve the conflict within government budgets to protect and grow employment while saving significant costs and maintaining service levels. Savings of between 4 and 10pc are achievable in most spend categories," he said.

"Governments across the world are centralising procurement in order to avail of potential efficiencies. Keelvar is bringing state-of-the-art computer science to procurement with its novel auction technology that brings sophistication to the financial proposal stage of tendering. This is a win-win outcome for both the supplier and the purchaser - Keelvar's approach helps realise efficiencies while at the same time allowing suppliers improve their margins."