Tech firm UX Design Institute raises €500,0000 in first funding round

UX Design Institute has closed its first funding round after securing €500,000 from Enterprise Ireland and a number of private investors.

The investment will be used to accelerate the company’s expansion as it plans to increase staff numbers over the next 18 months, enter new markets and further develop its online product offering.

Established in 2013 by veteran user experience (UX) designer, Colman Walsh, the company has operated a profitable business from year one, with revenues on track to reach €1.2m this year and €2.5m in 2019.

The company was initially focused on closing the rapidly expanding UX skills gap in Ireland and now educates students globally, with 73pc of its sales coming from abroad.

UX is a design methodology which plays a similar role in the technology industry that architecture does in construction.

It provides high-level and detailed design to ensure digital products are easy to use and fit for purpose.

UX is championed by tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.

It’s a fast-growing sector with an estimated 580,000 UX designers needed in the tech industry in the EMEA alone by 2024. In June of this year the Institute launched the world’s only university-accredited online UX course.

The company says demand has been strong with over 400 students enrolled since launch.

Last month the company announced it was hiring for 16 new positions to add to the seven staff members in its Dublin offices, with new positions to span sales, marketing, operations and finance.