Irish travel technology start-up gets €800k funding injection

12 Oct 2012

Boxever co-founders Dermot O'Connor, Dave O'Flanagan and Alan Giles

Boxever, a new Dublin start-up that has developed a cloud-based platform to allow airlines and travel companies to gather and analyse customer data in real-time, has secured €800,000 from a syndicate of investors and is now aiming to create 22 new jobs.

Delta Partners, together with Bloom Equity and Enterprise Ireland, led the funding round in Boxever.

The start-up itself was co-founded in 2011 by Dave O’Flanagan, Alan Giles and Dermot O’Connor. Having emerged from the LaunchPad programme at the NDRC last year, Boxever is now based at Dogpatch Labs and currently employs six people, including one employee who is in Norway.

Boxever has secured its first contract with the Nordic-based Atlantic Airways and is set to sign up two more customers by the end of the year.

According to CEO O’Flanagan, the company will be aiming to create 22 new roles in the next three years.

“We are delighted with this funding and anticipate that the capital will enable us to increase sales and marketing activities as well as expand our R&D team in Dublin,” he said.

O’Flanagan said Boxever offers a strong value proposition for airlines and travel companies. “We quickly and cost-effectively enable them to understand and optimise every interaction that each customer has with their brand,” he said.

Because Boxever operates as a software-as-a-service, O’Flanagan said this means there are aren’t long and expensive hardware and software procurement cycles.

“It’s just a monthly fee for a solution that delivers value immediately.”

Donal Duffy, head of Enterprise Ireland relations at Bank of Ireland, described Boxever as an example of a young, dynamic company that is showing great potential.

“We look forward to working with them and supporting their future growth,” he said.

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

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