Member Article

North East IT software company receives £600k investment for expansion

A North East IT software provider has received £600k investment to help them support ambitious growth plans.

Orchid Software, of Gateshead, develop Orchidnet - intranet software that originated as part of a development project for Vickers Defence Systems (now BAe) - now plan to expand its proposition.

The company has grown steadily every year since its foundation, financed entirely through a combination of founder Ajay Sood’s resources and the company’s on-going profits; however, an ambitious new growth strategy has led the company to seek out additional investment from external sources to accelerate their plans.

Ajay said: “We approached Northstar Ventures for investment, as our plan is to expand the business and start a recruitment drive; Orchid Software is already a highly successful and profitable business, but we decided that Venture Capital funding was the best way to realise our growth strategy.”

Founded in 1994 by Computer Science graduate Ajay, Orchidnet has been developed into a fully-featured suite of intranet applications, with recent developments including business-focused social networking facilities and smartphone-specific access.

Today, Orchidnet intranet software is used daily by over 100,000 people across 100+ companies and is relied upon by some of the UK’s biggest brands, including Comic Relief, Pizza Express, Ford Retail, Go Compare and Nissan.

Alex Buchan, investment manager at Northstar Ventures, said: “We are delighted to have invested in Orchid Software – it is a well-established business, with big ambitions to expand its already highly successful proposition. We are confident that it will bring about some great returns for the Accelerator Fund.

“The management team is strong, and they are very focused as to where they would like to see the company progress to. I look forward to working alongside them.”

As well as receiving investment, the company has increased its breadth of expertise by bringing on board two very experienced Non-Executive Directors: David Thompson and Neil Francis.

David said: “As a ‘Geordie’ being invited to help Orchid Software, a North East firm, in its growth is extremely exciting. The software being developed is as exciting as anything I have seen in the last 10 years and focuses on areas of business where true cost savings can still be made.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graham Vincent .