IT ALREADY has Denis O’Brien as a significant shareholder and now Irish internet telco Blueface has secured the Earl of Iveagh, Edward Guinness, as a backer.

Lord Iveagh, a direct descendent of Arthur Guinness, has backed a management buy-in through an investment vehicle called VentureWave.

Set up by Blueface chief executive Alan Foy, VentureWave also includes company directors Catrina Sheridan and Brendan Gaffney.

They have invested €2.7 million between them for a 30 per cent stake in the business, with Lord Iveagh providing the bulk of funds and becoming a director of the company.

Blueface offers voice-over-internet protocol (Voip) products and has focused on the small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) market here. Latest accounts show it made a modest profit of €28,176 in the year to the end of March 2010.

Foy said it was more profitable in the financial year just closed with revenues growing by 20 per cent.

“We’re cash-flow positive,” he told me over coffee this week.

“Customer demand is very strong,” Foy said. “January, February and March were very good months for us on a year-by-year comparison.”

It is also in talks with a group in the UK about establishing a joint venture there. “We’re in discussions at the moment . . . there’s a huge market opportunity in the UK.”

Foy’s boast is that Blueface’s products are the cheapest in the market here for SMEs.

He is going after Eircom, which dominates the SME space.

Blueface can offer virtual US and British phone numbers, which is useful for some exporters, and later this year will launch video phones.

If Foy can deliver on the growth targets, what are the chances of Blueface becoming a takeover target for one of the big telcos?

“We’re focused on growing the business; who knows what the future holds,” was Foy’s diplomatic answer.

Lord Iveagh was more direct. “I’m not in this for the quick buck. I’m very excited about this company. It’s a new sector for me.”

It’s also his first personal investment for about two years. Cheers!