Factonomy boosted by near£1m funding

Published on Thursday 19 June 2008 10:25

FACTONOMY, a software company based in East Lothian, is to expand after raising the best part of £1 million in second round funding.

The firm, which licences products to companies which it claims will dramatically cut the cost of developing IT applications, confirmed it had secured 860,000 from a range of investors.

The cash injection comes just two years after Factonomy raised a six figure sum in its first fundraising round. Company bosses said they planned to use the money to expand the firm's sales and marketing functions and increase the headcount at its Musselburgh headquarters.

The firm added that it has a couple of new contracts in the pipeline, coming just weeks after extending its contract with Standard Chartered to supply the bank with a web based "carbon calculator".

The original work, covering 52 countries, has now been increased to include an extra 19 destinations. The latest round of funding was led by Sigma Innovation Fund – a fund managed by Sigma Technology Management – which has invested 300,000 in the company.

Other investors included Barwell, Tri Capital and Scottish Enterprise's co investment fund.

Factonomy chief executive Geoff Kell, a former senior director of mobile software company Psion, said: "We were aiming for 1m so 860,000 is a good approximation. It gives us the wherewithal to grow fast."

With a current workforce of eight, Factonomy plans to grow its staff numbers to at least 16 within the next 18 months as a result of the funding. Kell added: "We want to beef up our commercial efforts.

The technology is there and is ready for the market."In August 2006, Kell invested 100,000 of his own money into the business – taking a stake of around 10 per cent.