© 3Q Software Solutions Ltd. 2004

News -> 3Q in the News -> 3Q Finalises €1m Funding Round 3Q Finalises €1m Funding Round By Ian Kehoe 3Q Solutions, a Dublin financial software firm, will this week close a €1 million fundraising round, according to chief operating officer Brian Hanly. "We will be officially closing off the round of funding this week,'' said Hanly. "We have all the investors on board and we are just finalising a few last details. "We have raised just over €1 million, which will allow us to continue to develop and really attack the British market.'' Hanly said 3Q, which builds wealth management software, had also signed a "six figure contract'' with insurance company Friends First. Hanly said Friends First was 3Q's first customer, but said the firm was in negotiations with several other companies and hoped to secure two more deals within the next six months. It was likely that both of the deals would be with British companies, he said. "Britain is the market we are aiming for and it is where we are putting 80 per cent of our resources. We are in detailed discussion with a couple of companies over there and we hope to be able to announce something soon,'' he said. "We are also in discussion with some Irish companies as well. Our target market is any company that provides financial services to the public. "People have been impressed by our work with Friends First and it has attracted a lot of attention.'' As part of its effort to break into the British market, the firm recently appointed John Finan as chairman. Born in Ireland, Finan has worked with some of Britain's leading insurance companies, such as Winterthur Life, NEL Britannia and Pearl Assurance. While with Winterthur, he spearheaded the €350 million acquisition of Colonial Life. "He brings a huge amount of experience,'' said Hanly. "He has really helped us develop our strategy and he will play a crucial part in our expansion into Britain. He got involved with the company through Enterprise Ireland's mentoring programme and has been a real asset to us.'' Hanly said 3Q, which employs 11 people in Dublin and London, would be profitable by the final quarter of 2005. The company has raised about €700,000 in investment since its foundation in early 2002. "We were only founded in February 2002 and we are still very young,'' Hanly said. "We run a very tight ship and we concentrate on having our sales right as well as our product.'' The company was initially established as a joint venture between Dublin software company Exoftware and the Foresight Computer Solutions Group. "There was a niche in the market and we were set up to capitalise on that,'' said Hanly.