Industry & Business

• 15 positions to be filled by December 2016
• HBAN helps Iconic raise €400,000 through business angel investment
• Iconic targeting the €37BN language industry
• Proprietary technology developed through R&D at DCU

Dublin – July 23, 2015 – Iconic Translation Machines, a leading Irish translation software company, today announces that it is creating 15 new jobs at its headquarters in Glasnevin, Dublin. The positions will be filled by December 2016 and will bring the total employment at the company up to 25.

Iconic is in a prime position to grow after a successful seed funding round of over €400,000 from a number of investors including Enterprise Ireland, and business angel investment from Bloom Equity and the Boole Investment Syndicate through the Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN).

Iconic provides cloud-based translation solutions to language service and translation companies and targets a language industry that is worth in excess of €37 billion annually . Its flagship product automates the translation of intellectual property documents.

Founded in 2013 by Dr. John Tinsley and Dr. Páraic Sheridan, Iconic’s advanced proprietary technology was born from almost a decade of research and development at the CNGL Centre at Dublin City University into developing a unique approach to machine translation with subject matter expertise for highly specialist and technical domains.

The majority of the new, highly technical roles will be allocated to machine translation specialists and software engineers, with some positions in sales and marketing. Iconic is looking to grow its presence in the financial services and life sciences sectors, following considerable success in the intellectual property field.
Welocalize, one of the top ten global language service providers, has already implemented Iconic’s translation automation service across its offices in US and China.

Welcoming the announcement Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD, said: “Iconic is a highly innovative young Irish company and an excellent case study of how Ireland’s start-up eco system can help companies grow and develop, from the initial concept stage right through to becoming a commercial reality.

Iconic is a great example of the type of company the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation supports through Enterprise Ireland. I warmly congratulate the team at Iconic and wish them every success for the future.”

Speaking about the announcement, Dr. John Tinsley, CEO, Iconic, said: “This announcement is testament to our success to date and ambitious growth plans. Our team of experts has created machine translation solutions for content which had been considered too technical and challenging for automated translation. We are excited about the strong growth we have already achieved in delivering translation technology to the very complex intellectual property and financial services sectors.

“Our support network, including Enterprise Ireland, DCU, and HBAN, as well as the angels in the Boole and Bloom syndicates have been so helpful. Obviously they bring much needed funding, but more importantly they bring years of practical business expertise and advice which adds so much value as we plot the next critical steps on our growth journey.”

Welcoming the news Richard Stokes Director of Innovation at DCU said, “We are delighted at the impressive progress that Iconic has made, which demonstrates how knowledge intensive spin-out companies based on state investment in research can contribute significantly to employment growth.”

Kevin Sherry, Manager High Potential Start-Ups at Enterprise Ireland added “Iconic Translation Machines are a great example of the type of company we like to support, spinning out from University research and targeting a significant global opportunity.

From its beginnings at DCU, Iconic has grown from being a concept to a company with a strong technology and commercial offering. Enterprise Ireland is pleased to have supported the company at each stage of its development as companies such as Iconic are essential to fostering the climate of innovation in Ireland – translating Irish ambition into a commercial reality.”

HBAN played a key role in matching Iconic with angel investors with an interest and particular experience in high-potential software companies. Michael Culligan, national director at HBAN added: “When we first met the team at Iconic, we were very impressed with the company’s offering. No one else was providing the kinds of solutions Iconic has already mastered. We introduced them to Bloom Equity and the Boole Investment Syndicate and the relationships have blossomed from there.” HBAN is a joint initiative of InterTradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland, dedicated to the all-island promotion of business angel investment.

Brian Clune, of the Boole Syndicate, added: “A strong leadership team is something we need to see in the companies we invest in. Iconic has this in spades in the hands of founders Dr. John Tinsley and Dr. Páraic Sheridan, whose joint expertise has been instrumental in the company’s success.”

Declan McCabe of Bloom Equity added: “What impressed me most about Iconic was the technology it has pioneered. Translation companies have strived to automate their translation processes and Iconic has plugged this much needed gap in the market.”