The Irish Times Business Person of the Month: Barry Napier, founder of Cubic Telecom

Barry Napier, chief executive and founder of Cubic Telecom, has been chosen as The Irish Times Business Person of the Month for December, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland.

Just before Christmas, the Co Wicklow resident signed a deal to sell a controlling stake in Cubic to Japanese lender Softbank for €473 million, netting Mr Napier and his fellow shareholders a multimillion euro payout in the process.

The deal – which values the company at around $1 billion, giving it the coveted status of tech “unicorn” – is one of the biggest ever for an Irish-founded tech company. The businessman will remain in situ at the helm of the company he founded in 2005 and also retains a shareholding in the Irish tech group.

Latest accounts for Cubic Telecom Ltd show it made an after-tax loss of €6.1 million on revenues of €56.3 million for the year to the end of December 2022. However, the directors noted the company was at an “earnings transformation point”, and expects to continue to show significant growth in sales.

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With research showing 95 per cent of new cars sold globally by 2030 will have some form of connectivity built in, Cubic appears to be primed for expansion.

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