Case Study: InishTech
Established in 2009 by entrepreneurs Aidan Gallagher, John O' Sullivan and David Smyth, Dublin-based InishTech provides Software Developers and Product Managers globally with code protection and licence management solutions to protect their most valuable assets and enable them to provide their customers with the ability to deploy and use their products in the most flexible manner possible. Based on technology provided by Microsoft under the Microsoft IP Ventures program in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland, InishTech were able to acquire and successfully build upon Microsoft’s IP in return for providing Microsoft with a significant minority stake in InishTech.
InishTech has continued to enhance the original Microsoft technology, successfully launching a new release of the service and has built an impressive customer base throughout Europe, North America and the Far East. Software Companies globally are facing challenges in terms of changing sales & revenue models. New platforms such as Cloud Computing need a more dynamic approach to software licensing and also raise issues with IP protection. The move towards Software as a service (SaaS) and application marketplaces is changing the dynamics of how Software Companies bring their products to market. They need to be able to support “try & buy” models, multiple product feature configurations and options to provide customers with flexible commercial terms. This requires a state-of-the-art approach to product licensing which InishTech hope to address.
Self funded to begin with, the company realized that in order to progress to the next level they would require further investment and aware of HBAN’s resources and contacts, turned to them for assistance. With the help of HBAN, InishTech were able to secure a €275k investment from the HBAN Technology Syndicate who co-invested with the Bank of Ireland Seed Fund managed by Kernal Capital and Enterprise Ireland to complete the capital round required to grow the company.
InishTech CEO Aidan Gallagher said: “The investment will allow us to further invest in innovative product development, sales, marketing and employment.”
"HBAN is delighted that the Technology Angel Investment Group, launched in June this year, has made its inaugural investment. This validates the syndication model of angel investment introduced by HBAN and, as we see in the completion of this deal, is a suitable vehicle for co-investment with the VC seed funds,” commented Diane Roberts, National Director, HBAN.
