Irish banking software developer Leveris has blamed a slowdown in the investment market caused by Covid-19 and the collapse of a significant funding deal for its decision to wind up its operations.
he fintech, which had been seen as one of the most ambitious and exciting Irish firms in the banking tech space, has called a meeting of its creditors for July 19. At that meeting it has indicated it will nominate Myles Kirby of Kirby Healy Chartered Accountants as liquidator.
Leveris had previously raised €25m from the Australian financial services firm Link Group in 2018, valuing it at €190m. Its founder and CEO, Conor Fennelly told the Sunday Independent in an interview this time last year that the firm, which had developed an online banking platform, was seeking to raise a further €100m.
But Fennelly told the Sunday Independent last week that the demise of the firm has come about because a major funding deal fell through.
“As for many companies, Covid-19 has had a material impact on Leveris,” said Fennelly. “Since the onset of the pandemic, we experienced a 9- to 12-month delay in our sales pipeline and investment plans. Our inability to travel to meet investors in 2020 and a general slowing down of the investment market heavily impacted us. These factors led to cashflow issues for the company.” Leveris had accelerated its investment plans and engaged with a number of potential investors in the first quarter of 2021, he said.
“We were nearing the completion of a significant investment round when our key investor was unable to complete it. Unfortunately, this had a devastating impact on the rest of our scheduled investment, and a re-plan of the process was not feasible within our required timeframe,” he said.
Fennelly said that “moving forward with a plan of liquidation will enable us to pursue a sale of assets that delivers a better outcome for both our creditors and staff at this time.”
“All of our creditors have been contacted and details of those impacted have been distributed. Other matters relating to redundancies and the sale of the company’s assets are being progressed under the liquidation process,” he said.