Kilkenny Company’s Numbers Add Up As They Turn To Crowd Funding

30 January 2014

Taxrelief.ie is an accounting and taxation practice specialising in advising SMEs on their tax and accounting obligations and simplifying the process for them.

Taxrelief.ie  is looking to borrow €20,000 to promote and increase their current client base in Kilkenny and Waterford and also establish a presence in counties Tipperary, Wexford and Carlow.

Lenders investing in Taxrelief.ie would be supporting a local, small business and all the benefits that brings to the domestic economy. The investor also enjoys a rate of return that they will not come close to receiving in any low risk short term investment.

Crowd-funding expert Simon Deane-Johns, the co-founder of the world’s first peer-to-peer lender Zopa, has predicted the market for such lending to small businesses in Ireland could grow to €100 million in three years.

He said: “Based on what’s happening in Britain, this is easily achievable.  Peer-to-business lending could, if anything, grow even faster in Ireland because of the greater sense of community between businesses and people here.”

Taxrelief.ie was founded in 2011 and is fast becoming a great success story.  In 2013, the company partnered with Michael Murphy & Co and is now operating from offices in Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny. They have had a very successful year with 35 new clients, 20 of them first time enterprises. As the practice expands they expect to employ up to two more accounting personnel by the summer.

Crowd Funding is a new initiative in Ireland where businesses can apply to have their loans fully funded by members of the public through a new online company called Linked Finance as an alternative to the banking system.

Partner at Taxrelief.ie, Darragh Beagan said:  “The Crowd Funding process is far less strenuous than with a bank, there's a lot less red tape and administration. Within a week your application can go live, and 14 days thereafter we'll hopefully have raised the funds we're looking for. There's also the opportunity to receive an extremely favourable interest rate, which doubles as an excellent return for the investor. There's the added bonus of being able to do business without involving the banks. It's no harm at all that they realise how much they need SME's as much as we need them.”

Since Linked Finance was commenced in March of this year 51 businesses across 16 counties and a huge variety of business sectors have been accessing finance to expand and grow.

More than 1.2million has been bid on the marketplace and more than 4000 registered users are looking to support SMEs and to get a good interest rate return on their lending.

More than 50 jobs have been created as a result of business loans being facilitated through Linked Finance.

Peter O’Mahony who runs the Laughter Lounge in Dublin set up the company with the backing of prominent businessmen Kingsley Aikins, Bobby Kerr and Feargal Quinn.

Peter O’Mahony said: “This concept is new to Ireland, but is a successful method for SME funding in the UK. It is a simple way to inject cash into supporting small to medium sized enterprises, bypassing the often restrictive and cumbersome banking system. We are delighted that a business as strong as Taxrelief.ie has come on board.”

For more information on becoming a borrower or lender visit linkedfinance.com.