Scurri reveals €2.2m in ‘high calibre’ funding
Blooming great fresh flower business opens pop-up shop
ONE OF Wexford’s most progressive businesses, Scurri, has announced €2.2 million in funding from ACT Venture Capital, Episode 1 Ventures, Enterprise Ireland and private investor Pa Nolan.
Rory O’Connor, CEO and founder of Scurri - an award-winning, cloud based delivery management platform making personal delivery simple for eCommerce Merchants - said he was delighted that the company has secured further funding from experienced and high-calibre investors who share Scurri’s vision and ambitious plans.
‘This investment is a testament to the hard work of the Scurri team and the funding will be used to focus on the next stage of our exciting growth plans. Our success so far has been due to our unrelenting focus on making personal delivery simple.’
Mr O’Connor said Scurri is currently used on a daily basis by many thousands of merchants ‘for whom we are making it easy to facilitate delivery choice for their consumers.’
John O’Sullivan, of ACT Venture Capital said Rory and his team have done a great job in building Scurri. ‘The original investment fuelled the Scurri team to refine the concept and product market fit. The revenue growth over the past 18 months is evidence of the market potential and execution capability of the team, in a very large market. This new investment funds the next stage in scaling Scurri,’ he said.
Earlier this year Scurri was successful in winning a contract with a Global eCommerce giant.
Damien Lane of Episode 1 Ventures said: ‘We invested in Scurri because we see the continued growth of a company solving the problem of improving delivery choices for online merchants.
‘Some of our team were involved with Shutl who were acquired by eBay, so we have a deep understanding of the problems online retailers encounter when implementing delivery solutions.’
Scurri also secured a multi million, five year deal with Fastway and Parcel Connect, in November 2015.
Original investor Pa Nolan expressed his continued support for Scurri:
‘When Scurri first came to my attention I was impressed by the gap in the market they were addressing. I am passionate about companies who improve customer satisfaction. This investment will be directed towards fulfilling the needs businesses that impact the online consumer and ultimately the bottom line of companies that use the Scurri Platform.’
This funding round of €2.2 million was completed in two tranches in 2017, with the second tranche closing in recent days. Scurri has seen a three-times growth in transactions in the last year and currently employs 27 people. Scurri plan to hire up to 10 staff in a variety of roles including Software Engineers and various Product, Support, Sales and Marketing roles. A FLOWER FARM pop-up business based in Coolroe, Ballycullane, on the edge of the Hook Peninsula was officially launched on Saturday.
The family run flower business was opened by husband and wife Paul and Lennie Wall. What makes their business unique is the way they grow their flowers. Lennie said: ‘Our flowers are grown from seed in trays, carefully nurtured until they are big enough to be transplanted to the field or tunnel. While we are not a certified organic business we predominantly grown pesticide and chemical free using methods like nettle tea, comfree tea, natural pest control, compost and manure.’
Lenny, from Holland met Paul - who has an organic horticulture qualification - while nursing in Belfast in 2003 and made the big move to Ireland a year later. ‘Coming from Holland I grew up in a country where flowers where available in abundance and there was always a vase of fresh flowers on the table at home.’
Lennie said: ‘What makes us unique from a standard florist or supermarket flowers is that our flowers are fresh and often scented. The types of flowers that we grow are very different to flowers imported and not readily available. There shapes are not always straight or perfect. My style is free, wild and natural. I did several training sessions with the widely recognised Hanako flower farm and design studio in Cork.’
To extend their season they have officially opened Wallflower, a Christmas pop-up shop, which includes handcrafted natural Christmas table centrepieces, ornaments and a wide range of Christmas tree décor. ‘I hand make all door wreaths and doorswags with fresh foliage, herbs and different colours that give Christmas a organic and natural feel.
‘We also supply some other small businesses with a platform to sell their handcrafted Christmas items.
‘Some of the flowers we grown are, zinnias, wallflower, sweetpea, cosmos, scented stock, love in a mist, gladioli, cornflower, nicotiana, islandic poppies, ammi, foxglove, dahlias, tullips, daffodils, frittalaria, sunflowers; the list is endless.’