A BELFAST-based tech platform aiming to transform the way public sector organisations measure the impact of their spending has attracted £1.265 million in seed funding.
Polyloop, which also operates a base in London, said it has just completed one of the highest valuation seeds out of Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.
Co-founders Ralf Alwani and Jak Spencer said the high-profile tech industry support will enable the firm to grow its workforce, develop more product features and expand into new markets.
Polyloop is made up of a team of tech professionals and former civil servants, based between Belfast and London.
The company said it will now look to scale across the UK, Europe and US with the target of reaching £16m annual recurring revenue in three years.
Polyloop’s founders said the business was conceived in response to frustration at the way the impact of public spending was measured.
While the UK Government spends around £432 billion on major public projects each year, the National Audit Office Office reports that only about eight per cent of that money is robustly evaluated.
The tech firm’s software helps organisations track the impact of cash in real-time.
Early adopters include the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and NHS Automation Accelerator.
“Many civil servants work hard, day and night, to do great work,” said Ralk Alwani.
“We want to highlight that and build up a picture through our tracking suite that allows them to make pivotal decisions in real-time based on data-driven evidence.
“Ultimately, this will allow our clients to refine and act on better-connected social impact projects from a local to global level.”
The seed funding round is made up of the first Creative UK loan to Northern Ireland, as well as angel investors from the UK and US, including the former group chief executive of Civica as well as seed investments from venture capitalists.
Former Invest NI board member and BIC Systems founder Ed Vernon is among the investors.
“Polyloop is an amazing Northern Ireland technology story. Innovation in this region around public sector and impact reform is mandated by very challenging budgets, yet with a converse need to deliver more and better public services," he said.
“In many ways Northern Ireland’s unique size has allowed for very rapid development of the Polyloop platform delivering as it does a solution to challenges faced in every region across the globe.”
