Mark Gilmartin and Jonathan Larbey, T-Pro
T-Pro provides speech technology solutions for healthcare, including a deeply integrated workflow platform, various speech recognition interfaces and the latest innovation, T-Pro Copilot. Copilot uses speech recognition, and generative AI to automate administrative tasks such as document creation, correspondence and diagnosis/procedure coding. T-Pro is shown to save clinicians eight to 10 hours every week.
Chief operations officer Mark Gilmartin and chief executive Jonathan Larbey founded T-Pro in 2012 and have grown the business across English-speaking healthtech markets.
Describe your business model and what makes your business unique
T-Pro gives our clients and partners the foundations and flexibility to implement our various state-of-the-art AI tools to help measure and improve efficiency. Ultimately, the business model is based on shared value. We focus on delivering value whether that be cost savings, efficiency gains or softer metrics like clinician satisfaction and retention.
What is your greatest business achievement to date?
The T-Pro business grew organically, without any external investment, to become the leading provider in Ireland and Britain. In early 2022, we were able to enter the Australian market, where we now work with over 60 per cent of healthcare institutions via an acquisition. This was self-sourced and self-funded, which is testament to the strong team and culture that we have built.
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What was your back-to-the-wall moment and how did you overcome it?
In the early days, we invested every penny we had in building our software platform and early AI models. We won a couple of contracts and slipped into overtrading. We had to hire more staff and pay them on time. Which meant, despite not paying ourselves, we couldn’t afford to pay our Revenue liabilities. We ended up entering an instalment arrangement with the Revenue. At that stage, it would have been easy to give up and search for external capital, but we traded out of it into profitability and never looked back.
What were the best and the worst pieces of advice you received when starting out?
The best advice we have ever received is to “move forward – quickly”. This is along the lines of perfect being the enemy of progress and has really stood to us. We are focused on delivering high-quality products to our clients but understand that this needs to be done through a lens of pace and innovation where we are not afraid to try things and change them if they are not working.
The worst piece of advice was not to waste time developing our own AI, as we would never be able to compete with the multinationals.
To what extent does your business trade internationally and what are your future plans/ambitions?
We provide a service in Ireland, Britain and Australia where we have a physical presence. Beyond that, we operate in New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and the wider Apac [Asia-Pacific] region as well as Germany, Austria, Switzerland. Our plans are to continue to grow market share in our core territories and to grow total addressable market through the introduction of new products, and expand into new markets, with the US an obvious target.
How will your market look in three years and where would you like your business to be?
As an AI native business, we feel like the market is finally catching up with where we have been in terms of product and messaging for the past decade. We think there will be a requirement to fund scalable AI-based solutions in healthcare and a wave of digital transformation will create strong industry tailwinds for us. In three years’ time, we hope to be at the top table in the US market – which will be a new territory for us – as well as other strategic global markets.
What are the big disruptive forces in your industry?
AI is the big disrupter but has been for a number of years. However, it is creaking healthcare systems, population growth, ageing populations and clinician burnout that are probably the factors that will really drive change over the next five years. Governments and healthcare funders will turn to AI to provide scalability through digital transformation. T-Pro will be perfectly positioned to capitalise on this.
Maxine and Rosaleen Hyde, Ballymaloe Foods
Maxine and Rosaleen Hyde are the daughters of Yasmin Hyde, who started Ballymaloe Foods in 1990. Today, they run Ballymaloe Foods and employ more than 45 full-time staff, producing more than 25 products for consumers in Ireland and abroad. With a commitment to sustainability, Ballymaloe Foods has achieved gold membership of Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme.
The company uses traditional cooking methods and natural ingredients, ensuring that the brand is creating new products. The core of the business is still Ballymaloe Relish, and its taste and quality has never changed in the 70 years since Myrtle Allen first cooked it.
What is your greatest business achievement to date?
We take pride in our Irish beetroot products. Faced with a declining supply of locally-sourced raw materials, we sought an ingredient that could be reliably grown in Ireland, working with farmers to grow the quantity we need. Today, we are the only large producer of beetroot products exclusively using Irish-grown beetroot, ensuring quality and flavour and supporting local agriculture.
What was your back-to-the-wall moment and how did you overcome it?
In September 2019, we suffered a fire in our production building. A unit on the electrical board was the cause. It was coming up to Christmas and we were told initially it would be a year before we could operate again in the building. We refused to accept this and, together with our team, managed to get back up and running within four weeks, closing off a section of the building that was damaged and going from a single shift to producing 24/7 in about half of the footprint to get our Christmas stock produced and sold.
What moment/deal would you cite as the game changer or turning point for the company?
There were two game-changer moments for us. In the 1990s when O’Brien’s sandwich bars became a nationwide chain, Ballymaloe Relish was listed on their menus. To have a national sandwich bar proud to serve our product was an incredible help to us. Secondly, securing our listing in Tesco UK gave us the confidence to see that we had potential to expand our retail range beyond Ireland.
What were the best and the worst pieces of advice you received when starting out?
Worst advice: after our first year of trading, a former accountant advised us to wind up the business because the outlook wasn’t promising.
Best advice: instead of specific advice, when starting out, Yasmin followed the example set by her parents in their business practices. They emphasised treating your staff well, making sure your product or service is the best quality and, if you believe strongly in something, having confidence in yourself even when others might doubt you.
How will your market look in three years and where would you like your business to be?
We believe sustainably produced food will be increasingly demanded by our customers as we all try to consume meals that are more environmentally favourable. We would like to be the go-to brand for our consumers to help them make tasty, nutritious meals that have minimal environmental impact.
What are you doing to disrupt, innovate and improve the products or services you offer?
Two working parents is now the norm. We understand there can be a midweek strain to make nutritious meals so this is an area we like to try to help our customers. Our approach to making food focuses on minimally processed sauces, made in the same way as you would at home, that can help improve the flavour of a variety of dishes while saving time and still packing a punch nutritionally.
How is the current inflationary environment impacting your business? How do you expect things to unfold?
Since the inflation surge, our ingredient and packaging costs have skyrocketed. We’ve absorbed a decent proportion to shield our customers from higher prices, while trying to lower costs through smarter purchasing. We stopped short of altering our product quality, though – something we will never do. Prices are stabilising now, improving margins slightly, but we don’t expect a full return to pre-inflation levels.
Kenneth Fox, Channel Mechanics
Channel Mechanics is a partner programme automation platform. Headquartered in Galway, its focus is to improve ease of doing business for companies going to market via the channel, where 75 per cent of global sales are transacted. By automating the business of working with partners, the platform allows companies to focus on the relationships. Founded in 2010, the company now employs more than 100 people globally.
The platform, built with a modular architecture, offers a suite of functionalities specifically designed for various partner programmes including partner performance management, partner training and enablement, partner incentives and rewards, sales promotions and programmes, and inventory operations and compensation.
What vision/light bulb moment prompted you to start up in business?
Through my experience working with multinationals, I saw the inefficiencies of each company building its own channel automation solution to go to market. The emergence of cloud technology presented the opportunity to build a multi-tenant platform that all companies could utilise.
Describe your business model and what makes your business unique
Our approach is one of land and expand. We identify a potential customer, build trust by solving their immediate channel challenges and then grow our footprint. Helping our customers create a frictionless channel by placing ease of doing business at the heart of their go-to-market model ensures competitive advantage for them and ultimately helps them win partner mindshare.
What moment/deal would you cite as the game changer or turning point for the company?
In the early years we relied on consultancy to keep the lights on as we bootstrapped the company. Making the decision to switch off a lucrative consulting business and pivot to a product-driven model was a real game changer. Since then, we have achieved growth, doubling in size every other year since we made the decision.
What were the best and the worst pieces of advice you received when starting out?
The best advice we received was to engage with Enterprise Ireland, where we were fortunate to be accepted into their High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) programme. Its support, both domestically and internationally, has been instrumental in our success. I have great faith in people and took on all advice as, generally speaking, people are supportive and mean well.
To what extent does your business trade internationally and what are your future plans/ambitions?
Channel Mechanics operates globally and is 100 per cent export-driven. Our core markets lie in North America and Europe, where we see growth potential. We will continue to focus on these markets and have already opened offices in Britain and the US. We plan to grow the business to over $500 million (€462 million) in the next three to four years.
Describe your growth funding path
Channel Mechanics began as a self-funded start-up and achieved organic growth. In March of this year, we secured $70 million in a Series A funding round. This investment fuels our ambitious growth plans to reach over $500 million in the next three to four years. After achieving this milestone, we may pursue additional funding to further accelerate our expansion.
What are the big disruptive forces in your industry?
The recent downturn in the tech sector forced companies to re-evaluate their go-to-market strategies. Many companies turned to channel partners as a cost-effective way to expand their reach and drive revenue growth. This disrupted the market and provided the opportunity for Channel Mechanics to help these companies via our platform.
How is the current inflationary environment impacting your business? How do you expect things to unfold?
As an export-driven business, we aren’t reliant on the domestic economy for sales. So, from that perspective, the impact has been minimal. However, our cost base has risen significantly with the majority of staff based in Ireland. Thankfully, growth has been strong over the past two years, and we have more than doubled in size over that period.
Ivor Queally, QK Group
Ivor Queally is a director of QK Group, which operates across a number of different sectors from meat processing to cold storage and warehousing. QK Meats began operating in 2004 after signing a contract with one of South Africa’s largest retailers. Initially it was processing 2,500 cattle, 7,000 lambs and retail-packing 400 tonnes per week.
In 2006, the company opened its first cold store and grew rapidly, expanding to now being the single largest cold store operator in sub-Saharan Africa, with a capacity exceeding 200,000 pallets. The company’s latest cold store facility is opening in August 2024 with an additional 25,000 pallets.
What vision/light bulb moment prompted you to start up in business?
There was never a light bulb moment as I came from a very entrepreneurial family and my Dad had always been actively involved in opening and developing new businesses. So from a very early age, I always envisioned that I would always work for myself or within the family business.
What was your back-to-the-wall moment and how did you overcome it?
One that stands out the most was when we commenced operations and identified that the initial management team did not have the same passion, commitment and shared purposes as we were accustomed to in Ireland. We realised that we had overcommitted to our key customer, who had expected a service level of 97 per cent plus. We were underdelivering, with a service level of less than 55 per cent.
To overcome this, we worked night and day for 14-16 weeks and we parachuted in some key people from our Irish operations who went into critical positions until we could find, train and develop a local management team.
Some of the initial Irish management team still work in the business 20 years later and made South Africa their adopted home.
What were the best and the worst pieces of advice you received when starting out?
My late Dad gave me some great advice and that was to always back the jockey and not the horse, that it is people that make a business great. Today I surround myself with great people.
The other critical piece of advice I got was never to stop people from making their mistakes and trying new ways of doing things – without risking the business.
What are the big disruptive forces in your industry?
In South Africa, we are struggling with the supply of the most basic services. We are dealing with no electricity for up to 12 hours per day. We have to deal with water rationing as Africa is more impacted by global warming and the lack of rain.
What are you doing to disrupt, innovate and improve the products or services you offer?
We are investing significantly into solar energy and the installation of battery technology as we move away from reliance on the grid and fossil fuels. Today we self-generate more than 32 per cent of all our energy requirements and we are aspiring to achieve over 62 per cent within the next two years with an objective to have some of our cold stores fully carbon neutral within five years.
We are also installing waterless condensers to reduce our water consumption by 70 per cent.
What makes your company a good place to work?
In South Africa the social responsibilities of an employer are much more onerous than in Ireland as we deal with a lot more social economic issues. A large percentage of our staff live with HIV/Aids and have struggled in getting access to antiretroviral [ARV] drugs at government clinics. We opened a clinic on-site with our own health practitioners to allow staff not only get access to the ARVs but also proactively monitor their health.
We also opened a school to enable our staff to get the basic education to read and write while giving them an opportunity to work on a full-time basis and provide for their family.
What is the single most important piece of advice you would offer to a less-experienced entrepreneur?
Find a great mentor. Find someone that you can talk to and just bounce the ball with, someone who has done it before and can relate to your problems, who has a wide network of great people who will help and guide you when you hit a wall or an issue you can’t deal with alone.
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