Ocuco founder Leo Mac Canna welcomes investment in growth after the disruption caused by the pandemic to retail trade.
Irish company Ocuco is set to receive €10m from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), with an agreement for another €5m planned.
A further €25m extension of its facilities with Wells Fargo’s technology finance division has also been announced, bringing the total refinancing to €40m.
The company said the new investment will support research and development in its global headquarters in Blanchardstown, Dublin, where it plans to hire around 50 additional software developers. Ocuco currently has a team of 80 software developers.
Ocuco is a technology company that provides software to global eyecare manufacturers. It has customers in 80 countries and 50pc of its sales are in North America.
The new recruits will help the team build out the next generation of its omnichannel, clinical and optical practice management systems on the cloud.
Ocuco is also expanding its international teams in the UK, Europe and the US.
It is understood that the €15m ISIF investment comes from its pandemic stabilisation and recovery fund which aims to help Irish companies recover from the effects of Covid-19.
Leo Mac Canna, founder and CEO of Ocuco, said that the company is delighted to be able to invest in its growth after the disruption caused by the pandemic to retail trade.
“We believe that the eyecare industry must move online to compete in the future and meet customer demand. The next generation of our products is designed to meet this shift towards mixed provision of eyecare services both online and on-premise,” he said.
Ocuco has around 300 staff based across 18 offices in 14 countries, with customers in around 80 countries. Over the last decade it has acquired more than 15 companies, bringing its revenue to more than €35m annually.
Fergal McAleavey, senior investment director at ISIF, said that they are delighted to partner with Ocuco in its journey to achieving more than €100m in sales.
“ISIF has a double bottom line mandate to invest on a commercial basis in a manner designed to support economic activity and employment in Ireland. This investment is a great example of that mandate in action while also supporting an indigenous software company,” he said.
