Dublin software firm to create 50 jobs


11 May 2007

Dublin-based software firm Exaxe, which targets the international life and pensions business, is planning to double in size from its current 48 staff to 100 people within the next three years on the back of a strong deals pipeline.

Speaking with siliconrepublic.com, Exaxe business development manager and co-founder Philip Naughton said that the company has a pipeline of deals with some of the world’s largest life and pensions companies that will help generate revenues of €10m per annum.

The company, previously known as The Harvard Group, is entirely privately owned and has not taken on any external investment to date.

However, Naughton explained that the company is in discussions with Enterprise Ireland about an equity investment that would enable the company to possibly acquire another technology company in the Benelux region.

He said Exaxe is also planning to expand into the US and Australian technology markets with plans to appoint resellers in each country.

Last month the company signed up the UK’s largest business process outsourcing (BPO) provider to the pensions industry, Liberta, as a customer for its Illustrate Plus calculations technology to cover conventional pensions, unit-linked pensions, protection products, whole-of-life and endowment policies.

Exaxe’s technology is built and deployed on a services-oriented architecture (SOA) model.

“We began as a services firm for the life and pensions business in 1997,” explained Naughton. “We took a strategic decision in 1999 to set up a product company and expand into the financial services arena.

“Our deal pipeline in the next three years would include €25m worth of business and we expect to close three major deals in the year ahead. Our aim is to be a €10m-a-year company in three years and to get to that stage we would need to double our size to 100 people in three years.

“At present we see our market as the UK, Netherlands and Belgium but we are in discussions about reselling in the US and Australia.”

In terms of his company’s discussions with Enterprise Ireland, he said: “We are certainly looking at taking on some form of investment whether it includes venture capitalists or high net worth individuals.

“Our aim would be to acquire a company in the Benelux region that compliments what we can do,” Naughton said.

By John Kennedy