X-Bolt Orthopaedics secures €1.8m for hip fracture product

Dublin-based X-Bolt Orthopaedics, a hip fracture fixation company, has secured €1.8 million in funding to bring the product to a global market.

The funding round was led by the AIB Seed Capital Fund, co-managed by Enterprise Equity Venture Capital, and included private investors with a background in medical practice and the MedTech industry.

The company, established in 2007 by former orthopaedic surgeon Brian Thornes, provides an expanding bolt medical device used to repair hip fractures, which have shown to reduce the need for repeat surgery.

X-Bolt Orthopaedics employs five people at its office in Santry in Dublin, as well as indirectly employing around 30 people by outsourcing its manufacture, packaging and sterilisation to MedTech companies in the west of Ireland.

The latest investment brings the total amount invested in the company in the past three years to €3.3 million. It expects to obtain FDA approval in the US later this year.

LearnUpon

E-learning company LearnUpon has secured €550,000 in seed funding from a US-based angel investor to develop its cloud based learning management system for training companies and small businesses.

The funding will be used to expand the company's presence in the US, Canada and the UK, employ new staff and further develop new features planned for release this year.

Manager of the scaling and high potential start-up division of Enterprise Ireland Lisa Vaughan said LearnUpon was "an excellent example of a business experiencing growth in export markets by continually anticipating and satisfying customer needs".

The company now has 100 customers, 40 of which are based in the US and a further 34 in the UK. They also have customers in Ireland, Australia, Canada, South Africa, the Netherlands and Spain. Its business grew 700 per cent in 2013.

PR Slides

Online public relations company PR Slides has raised €500,000 from a group of five Irish investors, including Simply Zesty founder Niall Harbison and Morgan McKinlay global marketing director Julian Kulkarni.

The company, which was founded by model Emma-Jane Power, provides press images to the media on behalf of clients using an online platform.