SpeechStorm Accelerates International Business Growth Plans With Completion Of 1.8 Million Pounds Funding Round.
Posted: Friday, June 11th, 2010 at 11:00 am
SpeechStorm Accelerates International Business Growth Plans With Completion Of 1.8 Million Pounds Funding Round.
London, UK – June 10th, 2010 SpeechStorm®, a leading provider of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) application software, today announced the completion of a Management Buy Out (MBO) and initial funding round of 1.8 million pounds. The funding is provided by Crescent Capital, a leading venture capital fund manager, Kainos, a leading supplier of EDRM solutions, and the SpeechStorm senior management team – Oliver Lennon, Damian Kelly and Brendan McCarthy.
SpeechStorm, who employ 24 people, is headquartered in Belfast, with staff in Dublin and London. This investment will enable SpeechStorm to accelerate development of its IVR applications for retail, financial services and telecoms sectors as well as expand its operations in international markets. Oliver Lennon, CEO, SpeechStorm said “We have a great team, superb applications and a proven track record with our customers. This investment is an endorsement of SpeechStorm’s capabilities and strengths in our existing markets and our strategic vision for the company.” “We are delighted to have Crescent Capital and Kainos on board and the opportunity to drive SpeechStorm’s international expansion with their support”.
Deirdre Terrins, Investment Director, who led the MBO on behalf of Crescent Capital commented, “We are really looking forward to working with Oliver and the SpeechStorm Management Team on this exciting offering to a dynamic and growing international market”.
SpeechStorm was first established as a business unit within Kainos in 2007. Following a number of successful projects with eircom, Ireland’s leading telecommunications provider, SpeechStorm quickly extended its customer base, providing innovative IVR applications to customers including Allied Irish Bank, Comet PLC and Etisalat.
Brendan Mooney, Managing Director, Kainos said, “For Kainos, the Management Buy Out represents a natural next step in maximising the growth of SpeechStorm; we are very pleased to be supporting the management in this investment.” “I wish them every success in this new venture”.
Key to SpeechStorm’s strategy will be the launch this summer of the latest version of SpeechStorm’s Dynamic IVR™ platform, which will revolutionise the delivery of both Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and on-premise IVR applications.
SpeechStorm® is a leader in software for automating customer service over the phone. Using a combination of speech, touchtone, SMS and video, SpeechStorm Dynamic IVR™ enables businesses of all sizes to reduce customer service costs, improve the customer experience and adapt more quickly to changing business needs.
For more information about SpeechStorm, please visit: www.speechstorm.com
About Crescent Capital NI Limited
Crescent Capital (www.crescentcapital.co.uk) is Northern Ireland’s leading investor of venture capital with a focus on telecoms, high technology, bio/pharma, tradable services and manufacturing opportunities. This investment in SpeechStorm’s MBO completes Crescent’s portfolio for its £22.5m second fund, Crescent Capital II LP.
About Kainos
Kainos designs and implements IT solutions that make businesses perform better. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Belfast with offices in Dublin, London and Gdansk. Kainos employs over 260 consultants and it prides itself on the quality of its people; client focused, reliable, dedicated and they understand how technology can be used to its best advantage.
Kainos’ customers include some of the biggest names in both private and public sector throughout the UK and Ireland, including AIB, the Audit Commission, Shipowners’, Bank of Ireland, Aviva, Northern Ireland Civil Service, the Information Commissioners Office and permanent tsb. For more information, see www.kainos.com.
