Development Capital has announced a €6 million investment in Internet Protocol Telecom Limited (IP Telecom), a leading Irish provider of cloud-based voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and unified communications telephony services to SME & Enterprise customers in Ireland. The minority investment will be used to accelerate the company’s organic and acquisitive expansion plans in the business telephony sector, with intention to increase annual revenues from a forecast of €6m in 2023 to €11m in FY2024. The investment in IP Telecom brings Development Capital’s total investments in Irish SME’s to €100m since 2013.
Headquartered in Park West Business Park, IP Telecom was established in 2010 and is led by Shena Brien, CEO, and Brian Chamberlain, CTO. IP Telecom offers a full suite of innovative, leading-edge business telephony services and solutions to over 4,000 business customers across the tech, IoT, education, transportation and logistics, retail and agriculture sectors. With its team of 40 highly skilled employees, IP Telecom is experiencing significant year on year recurring revenue growth averaging 25% p.a. The company’s customers are located throughout Ireland and include Sureskills, Portwest, Decathlon, Repak, Right Price Tiles and the Irish Cancer Society.
IP Telecom’s suite of cloud-based, vendor-neutral, dedicated B2B network offers customers fully integrated solutions to power today’s modern way of working and has supported Irish SMEs transition to a remote and hybrid working environment which has been accelerated by the pandemic. In addition, the PTSN (traditional circuit-switched telephone networks) switch-off scheduled in the UK and Europe for 2025, with Ireland set to follow, is expected to drive adoption of VoIP solutions, in addition to along with the increasing benefits for businesses using a cost-effective, dynamic and scalable unified phone solution over traditional fixed line phone systems.
The flexibility of IP Telecom’s solutions is reflected and demonstrated by:
- The reliability of IP Telecom’s hosted VoIP network. The network is hosted in two separate ISO-certified data centres with c. 99.999% uptime in FY22.
- Proprietary products including user management tools, call centre applications, call recording, etc., and its ability to integrate with third-party software applications such as MS Teams, Salesforce, Zendesk, ZOHO and Zapier.
- 24/7/365 monitoring & support to customers under the company’s service level agreement. For IP Telecom no two customers are the same, creating bespoke systems that solve the particular problem a customer faces as a customer centred service.
As part of the investment, Anthony O’Driscoll, Investment Director at Development Capital, will join the board of IP Telecom.
It is the 13th investment by Development Capital, bringing the total value of its investments in Irish SMEs to date to €100 million. The investment in IP Telecom is the fourth by Development Capital Fund II, the second €75 million fund managed by Development Capital. The other three investments by Development Capital Fund II so far are Spotlight Oral Care (Galway), Nomadic Foods (Donegal), and Wogan Build Centre (Louth).
Announcing the new investment made by Development Capital Fund II, Anthony O’Driscoll, Investment Director of Development Capital, said: “We are delighted to announce details of this significant investment in another highly ambitious company and management team. We are excited to partner with and back IP Telecom’s goal of becoming a significant player in the hosted business telephony sector, which has experienced significant recurring revenue growth and demand in recent years.”
Addressing future investment plans, Development Capital Co-Founder and Partner, Andrew Bourg said: “We are delighted to complete our investment in Brian, Shena and the IP Telecom team. IP Telecom has demonstrated a clear and focussed strategy in delivering its enterprise and business solutions. We look forward to assisting them achieve their ambition of both organic and acquisitive growth. It is our 4th investment from Fund II to date, and we look forward to partnering with further established Irish SMEs that have significant growth opportunities, seeking investment between €2-€12 million”.
Shena Brien, CEO of IP Telecom said: “Since the very beginning of IP Telecom in 2010, we have experienced consistent growth. Now, together with Development Capital, who share our vision for success, we are looking forward to reaching new heights. At the start of 2023, we set out our goals for the year: the continuation of providing impactful and improved telecoms services nationally. With this investment, our innovative technology solutions, dynamic customers, and Anthony O’Driscoll’s counsel on our board, we are set to fulfil this goal and much more as part of the thriving, innovative tech ecosystem in Ireland.”
Development Capital’s investment model is based on backing Irish SME management teams by providing them with both the funding and experience to unlock and accelerate their growth potential.
