Dawn Walsh, Kernel Capital; John O'Dea, Enterprise Ireland; Barry Murphy, TCAS Online; and Connall Boyle, Bank of Ireland
TCAS Online, a Dublin-based software firm targeting the estimated €200bn global student accommodation sector, has raised €650,000 in investment.
The funding was comprised of a €250,000 investment by Kernel Capital through the Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Equity Fund, with the remainder of the funds provided by Enterprise Ireland and private investors.
Globally, the student accommodation market is estimated to be worth in excess of US$200bn (Jones Lang LaSalle Student Housing Global Report 2012). In the UK alone, the total student market is worth stg£19.5bn (UK Marketing Pocket Book), of which student accommodation accounts for 24pc – stg£50m larger than the UK chocolate market.
With increasing competition amongst accommodation providers to fill student beds, TCAS has developed an online platform which enables customers to streamline and manage all operational aspects of student accommodation, resulting in higher occupancy rates.
“Our objective now is to use this investment in the smartest way possible to achieve our goal to be a world-class provider of student accommodation management systems and to ensure we live up to the expectations of our investors,” said founder and CEO Barry Murphy.
John O’Dea, manager of High Potential Start-ups at Enterprise Ireland, said TCAS Online is exactly the type of innovative export-oriented company that Enterprise Ireland is keen to support.
“It shows what can be achieved when the ambitions and energy of a young company are harnessed and supported. They are successfully winning new business in export markets.
“They already made significant progress, and Enterprise Ireland is working with them to further develop their international growth.”
