Outmin, a real-time accounting solution for SMEs, has raised €1.5 million in a seed funding round that will support the company’s expansion.
The round was led by Middlegame Ventures with participation by Fuel Ventures, KellySan Enterprises Ltd and several strategic angel investors. The money will be used to further develop its technology which aims to save clients time and money on their financial administration and minimise its distraction.
The company plans to open a UK office and double its headcount, currently at 28, in the next 12 months.
Founded by David Kelleher and Ross Hunt, the company provides outsourced accounting and book-keeping services, using artificial intelligence to provide clients with real-time financial data.
If our finances go flat, how will Ireland pay its bills?
One Border, two systems, endless complications: ‘My NI colleagues work from home while I am forced to commute to an empty office’
Geese and sharks show airlines the way to fuel efficiency
Barriers to cross-Border workers and an outsider’s view of the Irish economy
Outmin provides software as a service-based accounting, book-keeping and CFO service to small and medium-sized businesses. Initially focused on the technology and hospitality industries across the UK and Ireland, Outmin has more than 150 clients using its platform. It has doubled in size in the past 12 months.
“We believe because we’re selling faster, better, cheaper, we will be growing at a nice clip while the economic conditions disimprove,” said Mr Hunt, who is chief executive of the company, noting that the company had grown faster than they expected.
Macroeconomic conditions
Outmin has already seen the impact of the worsening macroeconomic conditions and rising inflation on its business, but these have been a more positive influence than other companies have experienced. “We started seeing in May, June that some of the sales that we were making were directly due to the downturn in the economy,” said Mr Kelleher. “People were looking at their internal teams and their costs around accounting, bookkeeping and finance, and we were starting to see that directly impact sales figures.”
The platform could be used in a number of different industries and appeals to modern businesses, but Mr Hunt said the plan was to concentrate on Outmin’s current markets.
”We want to create a consistent customer service, we really want to support our business owners. So that means we like to build up domain expertise in a sector. Today, that domain expertise is in venture-backed start-ups and the hospitality industry. We’re also actually doing quite well with agencies like digital marketing, recruitment and software development,” Mr Hunt said. “But ultimately we’re getting asked on a regular basis from an array of other industries. We intend to broaden the verticals over time. But, currently, we’re very focused on delivering value for the businesses on our existing verticals.”
Middlegame Ventures partner Ellen McCance said the company was “changing the game” for SMEs by making the accounting and book-keeping process straightforward and simple. “We are excited to partner with Ross, David and the Outmin team who have adopted a truly customer-centric approach to solving a pain point that is endemic across the SME segment,” she said. “The platform allows SME leadership to focus on running the business, while Outmin takes the headaches out of the finances.”
