Operation Armour Ltd has secured its first pre-seed funding that will enable it to deliver the first functional release of its product this year.
This release will be ready for customers and serve as basis for an institutional seed round.
The company is a startup in Saas cloud-based health, safety and environmental legislative compliance. It is grown out of founder and CEO Charlene Armour's 10 years of industry knowledge and experience in the legislative industry.
“As an auditor for worldwide certification bodies I found that hundreds of companies across various industries, didn’t know the law and were being sold generic, boilerplate information and paying consultancy prices. I set out to create a system that would return control to companies at minimal cost and effort,” stated Charlene.
The startup has also recently completed its inaugural session with Raise Ventures.
“I’m thrilled to be working with truly innovative founders like Charlene, who have big, investible ideas,” said Jenny Ervine, CEO of Raise Ventures. “This is exactly the profile of opportunities we want, and where we can add substantial value through boot-camp sessions and ‘always-on’ assistance.
“Armour is at the very early stage and, even though many would consider this risky, our seasoned entrepreneurs and investors are attracted to it because it represents the highest potential for big returns.”
Tracy and Ian Lyttle are directors of IL Contracts, a Civil Engineering company in Cookstown. They plan to use Armour once it’s available, stating: “In our industry, legal compliance is essential - a mistake could cost us dearly. We’ve worked with Charlene in the past and with everything she had done for us; we have the security we want. When we first heard about her new product, and learned some of the details, we will be one of her first customers. With our trust in Charlene and everything we know about her product offering, we can’t wait to get our hands (and compliance) on this.”
David Kirk, who was born in Belfast, but spent most of his career in California, has held senior executive positions in world leaders, including Cisco and America Online. Additionally he has apprenticed in the New York City venture industry (VC), where he learned how to spot winners in a field of also-rans.
“Armour represents everything we want to see in a high-potential investment: a founder with extensive industry knowledge and domain expertise, who has personally experienced a problem that it can solve, and with the passion to succeed.” he said.
Operation Armour is using this pre-seed funding to build the initial product release, planned for the final quarter of 2019. The company will use its financial return opportunity and working product to secure seed funding in the range of £250-£300K. These seed funds will be used to hire management and staff, develop product marketing and sales collateral, and fund marketing campaigns and sales activities.
