A friend, Philip Gillen, has started a new business, and is looking for funding. 

Himself and his business partner have shared their knowledge and experience in finding the market opportunity first, and then designing a business around it. 

This post is for information only; you may be interested in contacting the company.

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Dublin based Safefood 360° is seeking €500,000 of private investment through the Business Expansion Scheme (BES). The company is an early start-up and specialises in web based applications designed to assist food companies manage their food safety systems. Version one will be ready for full release early in 2011 and many of the investors to date are from the Irish food sector. This initial investment round (raised €200,000 so far) is continuing and the company expects to raise an additional €300,000 before Christmas. 

What do we do?

Safefood 360 is a web-based software package specifically designed to manage food safety compliance for the global food processing sector. We are a young Irish start-up business, grant aided by Enterprise Ireland and categorised as having High Potential. 

BES Investment Opportunity

We have set up a Business Expansion Scheme (BES) for Safefood 360 which qualifies for a tax rebate of 41% on inward BES investments. The typical unit of investment is €25,000 (other amounts are possible) and at the end of 5 years the investor can expect a return of at least twice their initial investment.  We also have a unique ‘Put & Call’ agreement in place whereby each BES investor shall have an alternative ‘Share Subscription Option’ to subscribe for new ordinary shares in the company, if this proves to be the more attractive option for the investor at that time. Our BES target for 2010 is €500k and we will process all Revenue RICT forms on behalf of investors so that they can claim tax relief for 2010. 

Progress to Date

We have already met with numerous local and International food companies who have expressed keen interest in purchasing the application once development is complete, which is targeted for January 2011 (letters of intent are available upon request). Our business proposition has received very positive feedback from key industry stakeholders such as regulatory and commercial compliance auditors from Ireland, the UK and the US. 

Go-to-Market

We are currently developing our go-to-market strategy to accelerate launch of Safefood 360 in our key markets in 2011 (with support from Enterprise Ireland). We are based in the Blanchardstown LINC incubation centre where we receive support under the Enterprise Platform Programme. The global market of food safety compliance is valued at €200bn and there is a food processing sector in every country. 

Promoters

George Howlett and Philip Gillen are co-founders and full-time directors. George’s background is in food safety management, having over twenty years’ experience working in the sector  –  mostly as a food safety consultant. He holds a BSc in Food Technology and MSc in Food Safety Management. George lectures at the DIT on the MSc in Food Safety Management programme and is highly respected within the Irish food industry. 

Philip’s background is in Information Technology with over 10 years’ experience in the sector and he holds a BSc in I.T. Philip is recognized by his clients for his commitment to excellence in the application of IT solutions and this will be found in all aspects of Safefood 360 when launched.

Further Information

If you would like further details or a presentation we will be happy to meet you at a place of your convenience. Please contact the promoters Philip Gillen or George Howlett at the details below. 

Safefood 360
LINC Centre, IT Blanchardstown,
Blanchardstown Road North, Dublin 15.

Tel: 01 885 1522
Mob Philip: 087 239 0371
Mob George: 087 676 8510

Email: [email protected]

Innovapeak Ltd T/A Safefood 360°
Registered in Ireland with company number 482766.