Business

Belfast-based DisplayNote is acquired by Volaris

Announcing the DisplayNote acquisition are (from left) Niall Devlin, head of business banking NI at Bank of Ireland; Denise Sidhu, partner at Kernel Capital; William McCulla, Invest NI’s director of corporate finance; and Paul Brown, founder and chief executive of DisplayNote. Picture: Brian Thompson
Announcing the DisplayNote acquisition are (from left) Niall Devlin, head of business banking NI at Bank of Ireland; Denise Sidhu, partner at Kernel Capital; William McCulla, Invest NI’s director of corporate finance; and Paul Brown, founder and chi Announcing the DisplayNote acquisition are (from left) Niall Devlin, head of business banking NI at Bank of Ireland; Denise Sidhu, partner at Kernel Capital; William McCulla, Invest NI’s director of corporate finance; and Paul Brown, founder and chief executive of DisplayNote. Picture: Brian Thompson

BELFAST-based DisplayNote, which builds technologies which make it easier for people to present, share and collaborate across large-format displays, desktop and mobile devices, has been sold.

Founded in 2012, DisplayNote has been acquired by Volaris Group, a global leader in software solutions and an operating group of Constellation Software Inc in Toronto.

The move was confirmed by Kernel Capital, an early investor in DisplayNote via the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund (NI).

DisplayNote specialises in wireless casting and video transmission technology, transforming the way parties interact and collaborate within business and educational environments while creating connected experiences in meeting rooms and learning spaces worldwide.

Its chief executive Paul Brown said: “Kernel Capital’s support since their initial investment through the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund has been a key building-block our growth as we expanded our global OEM and enterprise customer base.

“With Volaris, DisplayNote has found a home that shares our vision and helps us continue to support and expand our customer and partner ecosystem, whilst still innovating and growing our team.”

The sale will see a strong all-cash multiple return investors in the fund, which is part of Invest NI’s Access to Finance suite of funds and was designed to help SMEs in Northern Ireland accelerate their growth.

Ger Goold, partner in Kernel Capital and a former director at DisplayNote, said: “This is a great outcome for the DisplayNote shareholders, while for all stakeholders across the ecosystem it provides for the next phase of growth in the company’s story.

“Key to the success to date has been the vision and hard-work of Paul Brown and his leadership team with the support of the board.”

Invest NI’s director of corporate finance William McCulla said: “This is a great result for the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund, which we created as part of our Access to Finance portfolio to provide support to local SMEs to help them to scale.

“DisplayNote is now well positioned for a new phase of growth and we look forward to seeing it continue to grow in global markets with new partners on board.”