Nathean Technologies raises €1m for more RD

NATHEAN TECHNOLOGIES, a Dublin-based developer of business intelligence software, has completed an investment round of more than €1 million to expand its operations.

The latest funding is a 60/40 split between existing company shareholders and Enterprise Ireland. The investment is intended to back Nathean’s goal of improving its Logix Professional software.

The research and development programme will allow the company’s software to work more closely with business systems such as procurement, payroll, revenue, billing and customer relationship management.

Unlike other business intelligence tools, Logix Professional does not require companies to set up a data warehouse and is designed to be implemented quickly, said Barry Moylan, Nathean’s business development director.

Until now, the company has funded product research and development through its own profits.

The company has been profitable since it was founded in 2001, Mr Moylan said. “The revenue to date has come from a mix of services and software licences. Our focus is to grow the licence side of the business, particularly with partners.”

Nathean expects to record revenues of €2 million this year, a 50 per cent increase on sales in 2008.

The company has customers in the local government and utility sector in Ireland, as well as a British retail chain with more than 300 outlets.

Further growth will come through upselling to existing customers, as well as sales through partners such as independent software providers that will integrate Nathean’s technology into their own products, Mr Moylan said.

In addition to its Dublin headquarters, Nathean has offices in Poland and the US.

The company recently hired three new software developers and it may take on additional staff in sales and marketing roles, Mr Moylan said.

The business intelligence market is populated by some of the world’s largest software companies including IBM, SAP, Oracle and SAS. Nathean’s product is aimed at the mid-market and is intended to be easy to use.

“It’s purposely designed to look like Microsoft Outlook and drive like Excel,” Mr Moylan added. “With other tools, there’s a high learning curve.”

According to the technology research firm Gartner, the market for business intelligence software increased by almost 22 per cent last year and is now worth $8.8 billion worldwide.