Phone software firm grows

The Irish Times, 21 May 2004

Mr Garry McCollum, a graduate of Queens University Belfast, harbours grand ambitions to grab a large slice of the mobile phone software applications market.

After spending several years on the road with the consulting firms IBM and Accenture, Mr McCollum decided to develop his own software to work on the latest generation of smartphone.

He designed what he describes as a "consolidated desktop" for smartphones, which is based on the open software platform used in most new smartphones. Not realising that his development could become a big seller, Mr McCollum initially made it available on a shareware website.

The software proved popular and caught the attention of Nokia when he entered it into the software category of the Nokia challenge. He won a prize at the contest, which enabled him develop the software further and make connections in the industry.

At this point, Mr McCollum had already been accepted on the MBA course in the prestigious INSEAD college in France, so he spent the next year developing his concept while at the college.

By June 2003 he had completed the MBA course and had already recruited two employees to set up Cibenix.

Crucially, Cibenix secured its first reference customer, Austrian mobile operator One. This enabled the the firm to begin generating revenues and also helped it to attract seed venture capital.

"We now have a number of customers in the pipeline and are also generating major revenues from the consumer side of the business," says Mr McCollum.

As well as selling direct to operators, Cibenix sells its software direct to customers. This enables the firm to develop its own brand further and bring it to the attention of the bid firms.

Cibenix has just secured its first round of funding, believed to be a seven-figure sum, and is now planning expansion in Ireland.

Mr McCollum says the best tips he can give potential entrepreneurs are: choose your market well and make sure it has good growth potential; get a reference customer as early as possible; and form a strong management team.