The EIIS Innovation Fund is investing €1m with the remainder coming from existing investors
Company plans to take on five new senior executives
“Companies that drive automation, including AI applications, at the expense of the customer experience will lose out long-term”
Monday 3rd June 2024. The CX Academy, a leading global provider of online Customer Experience (CX) learning and certification has raised €1.5m of new funding. The EIIS Innovation Fund which is managed by Quintas Capital is investing €1m with the balance coming from existing investors.
The CX Academy, which is headquartered in Dublin, was established by CX expert Michael Killeen and online specialist Julian Douglas in 2019. The company has been supported by Enterprise Ireland from its formation and now employs 11 people and supports 5 contractors.
Over the last five years, the company has trained over 5,000 CX practitioners across 1,500 leading brands and from over 90 countries.
CX training is one of the fastest growing sectors in online education meeting a huge need for real in-demand skills. The CX Academy, which has maintained a five-star Google ranking from its graduates, provides online courses and university credit-rated qualifications to all levels of staff from CX Directors to frontline employees.
The company says CX education helps organisations and businesses to understand the power of customer advocacy, enables them to differentiate themselves from competitors while also establishing a lasting bond with customers. The CX Academy provides training for employees of some of the world’s leading brands including Oracle, Mercedes Benz, Waitrose, Sky, DHL, and Lloyds Bank, as well as many B2B clients.
The CX Academy CEO Julian Douglas says the fundraising, which was negotiated by Brian McDonald from Bay Advisory, is happening at a very exciting time not just for the company but for the CX sector as a whole. He believes rapid developments in AI are set to have a major impact on CX delivery.
“The success of our latest round of fundraising will enable us to fund our ambitious expansion plans and will help us to grow our revenue, particularly through increased marketing and future course development. We will also be investing in the recruitment of five senior executives and those new hires will enable us to meet our growth targets.”
“There is a lot of change happening in the CX industry. It’s a fascinating time and the growth of AI is having a considerable impact on the customer experience. Those organisations that can create the correct balance between technology and the human touch will end up winners. Those companies that drive automation at the expense of the customer experience will be the long-term losers. The first consideration should always be – does this change benefit our customer?”
Brian Devine from The EIIS Innovation Fund said they were delighted to support an Irish company with such a strong track record and huge growth potential.
“In a short time, The CX Academy has set the global standard for certified customer experience qualifications. The success of the latest round of fundraising has been based on the quality of its courses and lecturers and its ability to adapt and meet the demands of CX professionals all over the world. Of course, the vastly experienced management team and the fact that it has been profitable since start-up – an unusual claim to fame these days – were also key factors.”
“Currently 95% of The CX Academy’s turnover is generated abroad and we believe the company is ideally placed to tap into the global CX online education market and grow its market share in the coming years. The global online professional education market is worth billions of euros. If you take the UK market alone, there are over 550,000 CX and customer-centric professionals many of whom are without a qualification in CX. It is a similar situation in other markets such as Australia, the USA, the Middle East and the Far East. So we see significant opportunities in these territories and elsewhere for The CX Academy.”
The CX Academy has been supported over the last five years by Enterprise Ireland through its High Potential Startup Unit (HPSU). They are continuing their investment along with a number of other existing investors including edtech entrepreneur Anthony Quigley.
Donnchadh Cullinan, Head of ICT High Potential Start-Ups with Enterprise Ireland, said: “Enterprise Ireland is committed to supporting Irish companies to grow and scale, and to achieve their global ambition. The global market for online CX education is continuously changing, leading to an increased demand internationally. The CX Academy team is driving change and delivering unique solutions to the market and Enterprise Ireland is proud to continue to support them as they continue on their journey.”
Ends.
Note to Editor
The CX Academy
The CX Academy offers three online courses in Customer Experience, a professional certificate, a professional diploma, and a short CX Essentials course for frontline staff. The courses are validated by an Industry Advisory Council (IAC) and the diploma is credit-rated by Glasgow Caledonian University. The IAC consists of a mix of tech giants, financial and retail firms and learning industry experts from companies such as Google, AXA, Intuit and Virgin. For more information go to The CX Academy – Official Academy Website
The EIIS Innovation Fund
The EIIS Innovation Fund provides income tax relief of up to 50%* to individual investors for investments in small and medium-sized companies throughout Ireland. The objective of EIIS is to encourage individuals to provide risk-based finance to unquoted private trading companies to create employment. The Fund is managed by Quintas Wealth Management Limited (QWM) and advised by Quintas Capital Limited (QC). Quintas Wealth Management Limited is regulated by the Irish Central Bank. For more information go to The EIIS Innovation Fund
*Targeted income tax relief for investors is 35%