It was announced today that the BDO Development Capital Fund is co-funding a €19.5m investment in Netwatch Group, the Irish high tech security specialists.
It is the largest funding round in Netwatch to date. The BDO Development Capital Fund is providing €9 million, the largest of its five investments so far.
The BDO Development Capital Fund forms part of the Government’s Development Capital Scheme, an initiative under the Action Plan for Jobs through which a total of €225million is being made available to mid-sized Irish companies with significant growth potential.
As part of this Scheme, €75million in funds from the Department of Jobs through Enterprise Ireland will be matched with €150million of private sector funding for investments in Irish companies through a series of different funds.
The funds will be used to support Netwatch’s international growth strategy. New customer acquisition in the US and the UK markets is a key aspect of the investment.
Netwatch was incorporated in Carlow in 2003 by co-founders and joint owners of the Company, David Walsh (CEO) and Niall Kelly (CTO).
The company deploys the most advanced video processing technologies to proactively monitor and protect their clients’ assets. This involves installing high quality security cameras coupled with its intelligent software to detect suspicious events at its customer’s sites.
Intervention Specialists direct operations remotely from the Netwatch Communication Hub, visually verifying the intruders and intervene as soon as security is breached by verbally alerting the intruders they are being watched with a personalised warning.
Netwatch Group Chief Executive, David Walsh says, "In the middle of the recession, we focused on research and development and expanding the business internationally. This funding announcement is validation of that decision and also lays the ground work for the next three years."
He added, "The Netwatch value proposition is well received in the USA and this investment will enable us to capitalise on the great opportunity that the US presents. We are confident that we can double the size of the company over the next three years."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
