Buytel, a Dublin-based firm that develops voice-verification technology that can be used to track prisoners or confirm payments over a mobile phone, has raised €15 million (£11.8 million).
The funding round was led by Accenture Technology Ventures and is the first major Irish investment announced by the venture capital arm of the global consulting firm.
Co-investors in the funding round included Digital Capital, the technology fund arm of German banking Group West LB, which invested €3 million. AIB Technology Fund also invested in the funding round.
Buytel's existing investors Trinity Venture Capital, Flanders Language Valley Fund and Goodbody Private Clients reinvested.
It is understood the funding will value Buytel in excess of £50 million (€63.5 million). The investors took just under 30 per cent, according to sources.
Buytel chief executive Mr Patrick Keaney said the firm raised the cash to ensure it was funded for up to two years without having to go back to the market.
He said Buytel would use the cash to open new offices in Japan and Singapore to expand into Asia.
Buytel already has overseas offices in Sweden, US, Brazil, South Africa and London, and employs about 80 people worldwide.
The Accenture investment demonstrates that there is still investor appetite for companies such as Buytel despite the difficult market, said Mr Keaney.
Mr Simon Howley of Goodbody Corporate Finance, who organised the funding round, said it was a huge boost to have the Accenture backing.
It is understood Accenture will act as a reseller of Buytel's products outside Europe. This would be a major boost for Buytel as Accenture has 46 offices worldwide and more than 70,000 employees.
Accenture consultants may also work to develop new ideas for deploying the technology commercially.
Buytel may move to boost its existing technology portfolio, known as Voicevault, with key intellectual property in the near future.
Voicevault is a software product that takes less than half a second to analyse and verify a person's voice and location with its unique patented algorithms.
It is currently being used to track offenders in Britain, South Africa and the US. It was recently adopted by Group 4 Falck, a leading security company. Buytel will also continue to invest in its subsidiary, Trust 5, which is developing pre-pay payment methods that will enable mobile phones to be used like credit cards using voice-verification technology.
