Business

Cirdan secures £2.3m in new funding to expand operations

Announcing the £2.3m funding round for Cirdan are (from left) Niall Devlin, head of business banking at Bank of Ireland UK; Denise Sidhu, partner at Kernel Capital; and Cirdan director Stephen Dunniece. Picture: Brian Thompson
Announcing the £2.3m funding round for Cirdan are (from left) Niall Devlin, head of business banking at Bank of Ireland UK; Denise Sidhu, partner at Kernel Capital; and Cirdan director Stephen Dunniece. Picture: Brian Thompson

LISBURN medical diagnostics business Cirdan has secured £2.3 million in new capital funding which will enable it to expand its business operations.

The funds will be used to expand its ability to grow and improve the way it onboards new customers.

And it will allow Cirdan, founded in 2010 and already a global leader in digital pathology, to create 25 more jobs.

The investment was led by Kernel Capital through the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund (NI). Other investors include Clarendon Fund Managers and high net worth private investors.

It comes as Cirdan - which has clients in more than 150 laboratories and hospitals across 20 countries and six continents - continues on a strong growth trajectory (it expects revenues to increase by 80 per cent in 2024).

The Cirdan platform, which includes specimen imaging solutions, patient and clinician apps as well as the Laboratory information system, collects critical information in a lean and expeditious way, to help transform the time taken for diagnosis and provide new insights into healthcare data.

Its platform has been shown to improve efficiency and agility, provide greater control and visibility, and seamlessly integrate with digital pathology and AI.

Cirdan director Stephen Dunniece said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our investors for their continued support. This in addition to securing several new contracts will be used to accelerate our operational expansion and deliver on our strong order book for 2023 and beyond.”

Denise Sidhu, partner at Kernel Capital, said: “Cirdan is a company on a positive growth trajectory with an excellent product, strong team and blue-chip clients across the world.

“It is ideally placed to capitalise on the accelerated shift from traditional patient care to digital pathology which has the potential to revolutionise timely disease diagnosis leading to better and faster patient care.”

“Cirdan is a great example of an indigenous company delivering innovative and effective solutions that are making a difference for clinicians and patients both locally and internationally,” said Niall Devlin, head of business banking, at Bank of Ireland UK.

“We are delighted they have benefited from investment through the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund, and we look forward to seeing the business further grow and succeed.”

The Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund (NI) was designed to help SMEs in Northern Ireland to accelerate their growth.

Invest NIhas committed £15 million of funding to this fund which is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the EU Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.