Winner of a special award at last week’s Jumpstart 2011 competition at the LINC in Blanchardstown, Brendan Woods has developed a first-to-market software solution which automates the process of performing bank reconciliation statements.
A graduate of computer science from Trinity College Dublin, Woods set up the company WoodsWhelan with a business partner in 2009, and since went on to run it himself.
He has 10 years of experience mostly working in technical, web and software development roles and has also worked for two years in a senior sales and sales management role. Woods is leaving a full-time job at the end of August to focus on growing WoodsWhelan.
The judging panel at Jumpstart 2011 was impressed with Woods’ obvious entrepreneurial flair and determination, as well as the innovation involved in the solution he has developed.
Called AutoRec, it leverages market-leading optical character recognition technology to automate the bank reconciliation process, providing up to an 85pc time saving to users.
Nearly 100 accountancy firms across Ireland, the UK and Africa have bought the first version of the product and the next version is due to be released in early December. Sales to date have reached €92,000.
Woods is looking for capital investment of €350,000 to launch an international sales and marketing campaign, develop sales distribution in selected markets, cover cash flow and continue development of the software.
Photo: Brendan Woods with CEO of Fingal County Enterprise Board, Oisin Geoghegan, who was on the judging panel
