Digital design group Lucky Beard invests €1.1m in Dublin

South African design and digital advisory company Lucky Beard is investing €1.1 million in its Irish operations as the company plans to expand its Dublin-based headquarters.

The company said it would hire 10 people for its European headquarters, which opened in Dublin in 2017, adding to the 18 people it already employs here. The new roles will be in user experience and digital product design.

"Lucky Beard is all about co-creation with our partners. We are small by design and intend to remain that way," said Lucky Beard's Irish managing director Elaine Devereux.

“By blending both the advisory and product design arms of the business, we are able to help companies realise meaningful and impactful change quickly.”

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Lucky Beard, which is working with Irish businesses to adapt to changes accelerated by Covid-19, was founded in South Africa in 2015 by Adam Oberem and James Nelson, along with Mark Schefermann.

Mr Oberem and Mr Nelson relocated to Ireland under the Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (Step), which supports entrepreneurs wishing to establish their business and live in Ireland full-time.

Its Irish clients include Irish Life, 123.ie, the Institute of Banking, McCauley's Pharmacy and Aryza.

“The pandemic has put digitisation to the forefront, most notably in sectors like retail, healthcare, fintech, edtech and telco. Those who have acted early and were willing to experiment are seeing the greatest success,” said Mr Oberem, the company’s chief executive.

“There is a massive opportunity for organisations in Ireland to capitalise on this next normal and dramatically improve their performance and growth with clever digital innovation.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital adoption across a range of industries, as measures to slow the spread of the virus forced companies to rethink how they did business.

Although digital transformation had been occurring prior to the pandemic, the coronavirus outbreak has seen companies make rapid progress as consumers move to online channels.

“By bolstering Lucky Beard’s team of skilled designers, strategists and engineers, we aim to help businesses take advantage of our global experience in delivering disruptive and agile digital transformation solutions,” Mr Oberem said.

Lucky Beard also has offices in London, Johannesburg and Pretoria, employing a total of 65 people across the company.