Business

Medical diagnostics firm Cirdan in £3.5m equity injection

Cirdan Imaging chief executive High Cormican (seated left) with (from left) Allen Martin (Kernel Capital), William McCulla (Invest NI) and Gillian Sadlier (Bank of Ireland). Picture: Brian Morrison
Cirdan Imaging chief executive High Cormican (seated left) with (from left) Allen Martin (Kernel Capital), William McCulla (Invest NI) and Gillian Sadlier (Bank of Ireland). Picture: Brian Morrison Cirdan Imaging chief executive High Cormican (seated left) with (from left) Allen Martin (Kernel Capital), William McCulla (Invest NI) and Gillian Sadlier (Bank of Ireland). Picture: Brian Morrison

THE Lisburn-based medical diagnostics business founded six years ago by Hugh Cormican, the former boss of Andor Technology in west Belfast, has confirmed a £3.5 million cash injection.

Cirdan Imaging, which employs 32 staff, will benefit from a £2m equity investment from Kernel Capital through its Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund as well as £900,000 from technology firm Kainos and a further £600,000 from its existing investors, who include the Co Fund NI and Qubis.

The funding will be used to strengthen Cirdan's product offering, capitalise on its partnership with Kainos and to scale the company as it enters new markets and increases its export sales.

The company - which is a client of Invest NI - designs, manufactures and distributes software and imaging solutions to accelerate and enhance medical diagnosis and to address the market need for robust scalable ‘digital workflow’ products for pathology laboratories.

Cirdan, which already has a multi-million pound annual turnover, says it will increase its staff numbers as it builds on its existing sales presence in the USA, Canada, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Australia.

Chief executive Hugh Cormican said: “We are delighted to be working with Kernel Capital, Kainos and our existing investors. This funding will be used to strengthen offer and exports."

Meanwhile DisplayNote Technologies, another Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund portfolio company which currently employs 35 people, has signed a multi-million pound agreement to supply its new patented wireless presentation system Montage to Sahara.

Established in 2012, DisplayNote build innovative solutions designed to make it easier for people to present, share, connect and collaborate in real-time across mobile, desktop and large-format devices.

Their products, distributed globally, are available in 22 languages. More than1.6 million devices incorporating DisplayNote's software products have already been sold.

Following a £1.25m investment in the company led by Kernel Capital in 2014, the company has accelerated its new product development and is set to expand its payroll as its new product revenues grow.