Lisburn firm secures £2.3million to expand operations and create 25 new jobs

Lisburn-based Cirdan has secured £2.3million in new funding to expand business operations with the creation of up to 25 new jobs ahead of new contract wins.

A global leader in digital pathology with clients, Cirdan has over 150 laboratories and hospitals across 20 countries and six continents.

The company is growing its revenues with expected over 80% year on year growth in 2024.

The multi-million 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. The funds will be used to expand their ability to grow and improve the way they onboard new customers.

Stephen Dunniece, director, Cirdan, explained: “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.”

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

Denise Sidhu, partner, Kernel Capital, continued: “Cirdan is a company on a positive growth trajectory with an excellent product, strong team and ‘blue-chip’ clients across six continents. The company is ideally placed to capitalise on the accelerated shift from traditional patient care to digital pathology which has the potential to revolutionize timely disease diagnosis leading to better and faster patient care.”

Niall Devlin, head of business banking, Bank of Ireland UK, added: “Cirdan are 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. 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 Northern Ireland has 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.