Cork Printers Win Major Funding Boost

A Cork-based digital publishing firm has today announced it has secured €1.3m of new equity funding to support the future growth and development of the company.

The company, ePub Direct, said that the investment is being led by the Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund, managed by NCB Ventures, with additional funding being provided by Enterprise Ireland and private investor Hannah Kiely.

Established in 2009, ePub Direct provides comprehensive eBook distribution services to publishers, enabling them to get their eBook titles to market quickly and efficiently.

The company currently employs seven people at its Cork base but with the new investment this is expected to grow in the next three years.

In addition to digital publishing the company handles all distribution, administration and billing on behalf of its clients, which currently include major Irish and UK publishing houses, as well as powering the eBook platforms of several of the world's largest publishing groups.

The company supplies these titles to 116 online retail stores including Amazon, Apple and Waterstones and over 15,000 online libraries from across the world.

Commenting on the announcement Gareth Cuddy, CEO of ePub Direct, said: "We're delighted to secure this investment which will allow us to expand and strengthen our team and help us realise our ambition of becoming the leading eBook distributor in Europe.

"In addition to the actual funding, the combined expertise and contact network of NCB and Enterprise Ireland will be invaluable to our business as we embark on the next exciting phase of our growth and development strategy."

Will Prendergast, a Partner with NCB Ventures said: "After decades of stability the publishing industry is undergoing a period of huge disruption, with Amazon already selling more eBooks than physical books.

"This creates global opportunities for entrepreneurs like Gareth and this funding will allow his team to accelerate their expansion and hiring plans in this new and expanding market."

Recent figures from US publishers indicate that about 20% of all book sales are now digital.

In the UK and Ireland this figure is currently 8-10% but expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Some projections indicate that digital could form up to half of all book sales by 2015.

Michael Moriarty, Enterprise Ireland Manager High Potential Start-ups said: "Enterprise Ireland is delighted to be supporting ePub Direct. This is an ambitious, innovative company that is successfully carving out a niche in this new market area.

"They demonstrate all of the characteristics of a strong export focused company winning new business and creating jobs. We look forward to continuing to work with the company as they internationalise the business and grow their customer base into the future," he said.

(BMcC)