19th August 2022 – Dublin
Furthr VC has led a €750K investment in digital publications creator, 3D Issue, alongside the Western Development Commission. The funding will be used to create 24 new jobs by 2023 and expand in current and new markets, aiming to increase revenues from €1M to €6M in three years.
Founded by Paul McNulty in 2007, 3D Issue is a tech company focused on digital publication tools. It introduced Experios in the previous year, a versatile drag-and-drop content-creation platform. Experios offers white-labelled templates for various high-quality publications that adapt to the reader’s device, needing only a single design for all devices.
Designers can convert Experios into a design studio by adding their company’s style guide. This lets writers and marketers add content using branded templates, enabling businesses to enhance their content experiences without extra design services. Consequently, users can reduce design costs and required man-hours by up to 98%.
3D Issue, an export-oriented firm with over 1,500 clients in 44+ countries, has collaborated with top brands like Mercedes, Sony, NASA, Mensa, McGraw Hill, Haymarket, and Procter & Gamble. The recent investment will boost 3D Issue’s market presence and expansion while fostering innovation and product development.
The 24 new roles in design, software development, and sales and marketing will mostly be based in Donegal and remotely in Ireland, with some sales and marketing roles in the US and UK, key markets for 3D Issue. The company was an early adopter of a four-day working week in Ireland.
The funding from Furthr VC comes from its latest fund, backed by leading Irish technology entrepreneurs and business leaders, as well as Enterprise Ireland. With an emphasis on highly scalable, export-focused software and MedTech companies, it is on track to invest in up to 30 companies by year-end 2024.
Paul McNulty, founder and CEO, 3D Issue, said: “This is an exciting period of growth and innovation for our company and we are delighted to have the backing of Furthr VC and the Western Development Commission. We have an established base of extremely large international enterprise customers and the launch of Experios will be significant in helping us to increase our revenues through existing business, as well as new opportunities.
The team in Furthr VC has guided us on our growth journey, offering advice and helping us to identify the right candidates to fill key positions in the business. Their expertise, along with the funding, will be imperative to our company as we embark on this latest phase of our growth journey.”
Richard Watson, Managing Partner, Furthr VC, said: “When we established our latest fund, we set out very specific criteria for the types of companies that we were looking to back, and which we believed would deliver the best returns for our investors. As a technology company, with a high-performing management team which is experiencing significant growth in major global markets, 3D Issue fits that bill very neatly. With the launch of Experios, 3D issue is setting itself apart from competitors and is well-positioned to become a major player in the global digital publishing market.”
Tomás Ó Síocháin, CEO of the Western Development Commission, said: “Our €72m investment fund has been supporting companies in the West and Northwest for twenty years. 3D Issue has demonstrated global ambition from Ireland’s Atlantic Coast and our team is delighted to support their journey as they scale up the operation and grow their staff numbers.”
