Dublin-based software firm TCAS Online has received a €650,000 investment to help it expand and develop its business .
This included a €250,000 investment by Kernel Capital through the Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Equity Fund, with the remainder of funds coming from Enterprise Ireland and private investors.
TCAS Online specialises in delivering software through the cloud for managing student accommodation, providing an online platform that helps increase occupancy rates by streamlining and managing the accommodation process.
The company is headquartered in Dublin but has operations in London and Asia. It has 45,000 students beds under management and processes more than €200 million through its online payments portal.
Chief executive Barry Murphy said the funding would allow the company to focus on building its skill base to support the expansion. Although TCAS is generating revenue, the new investment will allow the company to think more strategically about what it is doing. “In this environment, it’s been a great success and a huge recognition of what we’ve done that there is funding going in,” he said.
“What we want to do is bring in resources and skills and invest up front without having to sweat over cash flow,” he said. “You think differently; it gives you a different mindset.”
Although Ireland’s student accommodation market is small, the global market isestimated to be worth about $200 billion (€148 billion). It is that market that TCAS intends to tap into.
“Student accommodation is an active and growing sector,” he said. “There’s only a couple of operators like ourselves serving it, so we’ve found a nice market to play in.”
