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The new investment will support Druid’s strategic interests, allowing faster growth in new sectors.
Ireland-based cellular network software platform provider Druid Software, which targets its services towards enterprise and industrial clients, has raised $20m in “strategic” growth capital to expand into the defence, shipping and utilities sectors.
The funding round was co-led by J2 Ventures and Hico – a maritime-focused investment group – and saw participation from industry experts including Arthur Patterson, the co-founder of Accel Partners.
Founded in Ireland in 2000, Druid now operates in more than 35 countries, providing its private 5G and 4G cellular technology services for wide-ranging applications, including in healthcare, ports, manufacturing, governments and defence networks.
“The last four years we have seen a surge in demand for our products in every major infrastructure category from healthcare to connected warehouses,” said Liam Kenny, the company’s founder and CEO.
“When we started Druid 24 years ago, we never dreamt our core network products would be so integral, but many also did not see the AI [artificial intelligence] boom either, and as people want more computing in more things, it would appear you need one to enable the other.”
According to the company, advances in handheld computing and Internet of Things have grown “exponentially” with the increased demand for AI, however, cellular technology has “struggled to keep pace” in order to enable the advances – a challenge Druid addresses.
“We’ve been looking at this space for years and there is really no non-publicly traded business that comes close to Druid’s performance, reach and efficiency,” said J2 Ventures managing partner, Alexander Harstrick.
“When we found Druid, we shifted our focus to convincing the company to take our money because they are already profitable and growing very fast.
“The entire investment is going towards the strategic interests of Druid to help them go even faster in places our group knows very well.”
Druid was shortlisted for the 2024 Technology Ireland Awards under the Digital Technology Company of the Year as well as the Technology Innovation of the Year categories.
In 2019, the company announced a deal with Bence Command to bring 4G LTE (long-term evolution) coverage for drones and body-worn cameras for first responders in the UK.
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