Galway-based entrepreneur Mr Declan Ganley is finalising a $35 million (€37 million) fundraising for his latest Internet venture, Dotcom Platform. The deal is expected to close in the next three weeks, placing an initial valuation on the company of $105 million.
Mr Ganley is a majority shareholder in Dotcom Platform, which describes itself as a total solutions provider. It offers enterprises and telecommunications companies a suite of services to implement their e-commerce strategies.
Though details of the investment round have not been revealed, investors include three US hedge funds that formerly invested in Mr Ganley's Broadnet venture, a provider of high-speed broadband access currently spending $1 billion on its European rollout.
Another investor is understood to have major holdings in the telecommunications and luxury goods sectors, and is a major shareholder in Mr Ganley's online jewellery shop, Adornis.com. Two leading international investment banks are also involved in Dotcom Platform's funding round.
The company, which has been up and running since February, now employs 120 people between its data centre in Reston, Virginia, in Washington DC and in Ireland. Its headquarters are in Mr Ganley's Moyne Park estate in Abbeyknockmoy, Co Galway, where 30 people are employed.
Mr Ganley says he expects the Irish workforce to increase to at least 100 by the end of this year. "Beyond that depends on the labour market and what we can source, but I expect significant further growth."
Up to 15 per cent of the company's equity will be set aside for an employee share option programme.
With Lucent, Oracle and Sun acting as technology and hardware partners to the deal, vendor financing from equipment providers is valued at around $10 million.
Described as a "one-stopshop" Dotcom Platform's infrastructure will be powered by InterWorld, the Nasdaq-quoted provider of e-commerce software. It will offer the sell-side of Dotcom Platform's service offering, including retail merchandising, personalisation, customer care, business intelligence, order management and fulfilment.
Mr Ganley says most of the new funding will be used to embark on an acquisition trail later this year, targeting companies with operations in every area in which Dotcom Platform plans to deliver services. These include website design, content management and call centre operations.
