Gecko Governance gets $1.4m in follow-on funding from Irish-US VC firm

Irish-US venture capital firm Cosimo has invested $1.4 million (€1.2 million) in Dundalk-based fintech Gecko Governance in a follow-on funding round with a similar amount going to a Dublin-based blockchain company.

Cosimo previously invested $1 million in Dundalk-based Gecko, which has created software for the financial services sector based on blockchain that allows fund managers to meet regulatory and compliance requirements, in early 2018.

A previous winner of the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn competition, Gecko last year announced plans to raise $20 million (€17.7m) via an initial coin offering (ICO), with funds raised to be used to develop a new global compliance solution.

Cosimo also announced a $1.5 million follow-on investment in Oneiro, a start-up focused on developing technologies around decentralised, secure, and dependable cryptocurrency.

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Boston-headquartered Oneiro, which was founded in late 2017, announced plans to base part of its core technology team in Dublin following an initial $3 million from Cosimo a year ago.

Cosimo is focused on so-called “deeptech” companies working in areas such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, big data, and virtual and augmented reality.

The firm is co-led by Connor Cantwell, the chairman of An Post’s GeoDirectory and chief executive at Dublin-based Centauri Tech, Prior to this, Mr Cantwell founded 20-20 Insights a company acquired by Swiss Post in 2013. He was also previously European marketing director and country manager for Ireland for the research firm Nielsen.

Among Cosimo’s other partners is Ciarán Hynes, founder and managing director of Ovation, the events group that was acquired by MCI in 2003.

In addition to the investments in Gecko and Oneiro, Cosmio also said it would put $330,000 in Boston-based start-up Lingar, an augmented reality mobile application and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform for museums, cultural institutions, tours and special venues.

Cosimo, which has offices in Dublin and Boston, said the investments were made via its through its tokenized VC fund, known as Cosimo X

Other companies to have previously received financial backing from Cosimo include Nova Leah, a hotly-tipped Irish start-up led by Anita Finnegan which is developing cybersecurity risk management systems especially for medical devices.