Three tech companies to receive more than £1.8m funding to drive growth

Three technology companies in Northern Ireland are to receive more than £1.8 million in equity investment, Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald has announced.

The minister said the funding would go towards accelerating product development, increasing exports and creating new jobs.

Optik AI Ltd in Londonderry, Farmdrive in Antrim and Foresight in Belfast have received investment through Techstart Ventures, part of Invest NI’s access to finance programme.

Ms Archibald said: “Access to finance for start-ups is crucial, and the Techstart Ventures fund is delivering essential support to early-stage tech companies so that they can accelerate innovation and growth in their business.

“It is excellent to see innovative businesses across the north already benefiting from the fund since its launch last year.”

Optik AI is a Saas (software as a service) company that has developed a software platform to help businesses optimise their sales strategies.

The company has received £600,000 to develop its human-assisted AI platform and reach new export markets.

Ciaran Ryan, chief executive at Optik AI, said: “The demand for AI-driven sales technology is rapidly increasing and Techstart Ventures funding is helping us to accelerate the development of our software in line with this, optimising our product to target new global markets across Europe and the US.

“Invest NI is also supporting us to create five new jobs so that we can build our team in tandem with our business growth.”

Farmdrive in Antrim has received £690,000 of funding to develop its livestock management solution to help farmers save time on compliance and record keeping.

The support will assist the company to grow sales in Britain and increase exports in Europe.

It will also create eight new roles, including four software engineer roles, a data scientist and a digital marketing manager.

Foresight, based in Belfast, has developed software to help businesses respond to regulatory change in chemical policy.

It has received funding of £500,000 to help it to accelerate product development which aims to increase exports to the US and Europe.

Steven Scullion, director of corporate finance at Invest NI, said: “Techstart Ventures provides equity investment to innovative early-stage technology companies seeking to commercialise their ideas.

“Founders who have global ambitions and a need for investment monies can engage with Techstart Ventures to explore potential funding options for their business innovation journey.”