Business News

IT services company Version 1 receives €8m to drive international expansion

By Business & Finance
28 July 2014

The BDO Development Capital Fund today announced its first investment since the launch of the €75m fund in March this year.

The fund managed by Development Capital, a 100% subsidiary of BDO, has invested €8m in Version 1, one of Ireland’s fastest growing IT services companies.

The investment will enable Version 1’s further expansion into the UK and the creation of up to 100 additional IT consultancy jobs in Ireland. The BDO Development Capital Fund provides development and growth capital for established, mid-sized and profitable companies to assist them to achieve and accelerate their export-led growth plans.

Version 1 was founded in 1996 by Justin Keatinge and is today one of the fastest growing IT services companies in Western Europe. The company has grown organically to become a trusted technology partner to major domestic and international customers across all industry sectors in the UK and Ireland. The company has doubled both profitability and revenue over the last few years, while at the same time delivering consistent improvement in customer satisfaction and world-class employee engagement.

The BDO Development Capital Fund forms part of the Government’s Development Capital Scheme, an initiative under the Action Plan for Jobs through which a total of €225m is being made available to mid-sized Irish companies with significant growth potential. As part of this scheme, €75m in funds from the Department of Jobs through Enterprise Ireland will be matched with €150m of private sector funding for investments in Irish companies through a series of different funds.

Announcing the fund’s first investment, Sinead Heaney, founding director of The BDO Development Capital Fund said:

“Version 1 is an excellent example of a growth focused, market-leading, Irish company – the type of company that this fund was set up to support. Throughout our process, we have been hugely impressed by Version 1’s management team and their track record of achievement. We are delighted to be joining the founder and management team to further accelerate the growth of the business.”

Discussing potential future investments by the BDO Development Capital Fund, Heaney said they were impressed with the level of enquires for funding from businesses across all sectors but in particular food and agri, ICT and medical devices. These enquires are from businesses with significant export opportunities and ambitious management teams who have the drive and confidence to take on the funding to accelerate their growth plans.

Version 1 founder, Justin Keatinge said: “Version 1 is enjoying a very exciting stage. Today’s announcement provides us with the investment needed to take our growth and planned development through acquisition. We are a results driven organisation, which prides itself on helping our partners strive for excellence in their areas of expertise.”