Pictured are Paul Kerley, chairman of Fenergo; John Dolan, partner in Investec Ventures; and Marc Murphy, CEO of Fenergo. Image via Jason Clarke Photography
Fenergo, a Dublin, Ireland-based fin-tech start-up, has secured €4m of new equity funding from Investec Ventures. This is the first external funding round for the company, which is chaired by Paul Kerley, former founder and CEO of Norkom Technologies, as Fenergo eyes up entering new markets.
Marc Murphy is the co-founder and CEO of Fenergo.
The €4m investment is being made by The Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund, which is managed by the venture capital (VC) firm Investec Ventures (formerly known as NCB Ventures), with co-investment from existing shareholders.
Fenergo’s speciality is in enabling financial institutions to meet regulatory compliance and data requirements.
It develops client-onboarding, enterprise compliance and data-management software solutions for investment banks.
Fenergo’s existing client base include global financial institutions such as Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds Banking Group, Investec and Rabobank.
The company is also an Enterprise Ireland client.
Kick-starting ‘ambitious’ internationalisation plans
Now the plan is to use the funds to further expand Fenergo’s global footprint across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, and to speed up the development of its enterprise platform.
Over the past year, Fenergo has been upping the ante in terms of breaking into new markets. It has signed four global marquee clients, including two leading North American financial institutions.
Fenergo has also been in hiring mode.
Just this past August, Fenergo announced it would be recruiting software developers, technical architects, business analysts and project managers to work in its offices in Dublin and in Wroclaw, Poland.
New round of funding
In terms of the latest capital, Murphy said Fenergo is “absolutely delighted” to work with Investec Ventures.
He said that, having won a number of new clients this year in the US and Canada, Fenergo has reached a critical juncture in its journey.
The plan now is to use this new capital injection to further enhance its solutions in line with client and market needs, and to tackle expanding into new markets.
“This is a significant milestone in our company’s development and I am looking forward to shaping Fenergo into a global force in the fin-tech space,” Murphy said.
John Dolan, partner in Investec Ventures, is now set to join the Board of Fenergo.
Investec Ventures is part of the Investec Group in Ireland.
It manages a €75m VC fund established under the Enterprise Ireland Venture Capital Programme.
The fund invests between €1m-€5m in Irish companies across a range of sectors and stages of development and has, to date, invested in 16 companies.
