ACT invests £200,000 in Tallaght firm

ACT Venture Capital has paid £200,000 for a 30 per cent stake, in the small Tallaght based company, Ash Technologies.

The deal values the company, which makes video magnifiers for use by visually impaired people, at almost £670,000. Ash, which was set up two years ago, will use the income to fund the expansion of the company's product range.

The operations director of Ash, Mr Hugh Maguire, said the company was working on the development of new products in the same family as its existing TVi video magnifier. Ash employs five people at its 2,500 sq ft plant at the IDA Tallaght Business Park.

The TVi uses a state of the art video camera in a small handheld device about the size of a computer mouse. When the device is placed over printed material it magnifies and enhances the image and displays it on a standard television screen.

Ash currently sells the TVi in Ireland and exports it to Europe and the United States. Europe is currently the main market but Mr Maguire said the US market, which Ash only entered six weeks ago, should be at least as important as Europe in the medium term.

The foreign distribution and, marketing of the TVi is handled by the Dutch firm, Tieman, which has similar but not competing products in its range.

ACT spokesman, Mr Walter Hobbs, said Ash had an experienced management team despite being a young company. Ash also has "good potential in international markets as evidenced by the positive reaction to its first product", according to Mr Hobbs, who has joined the company's board.