Welsh software firm secures six figure investment

Cardiff software start-up Koherent is planning to expand its team and operations after raising a six-figure investment package from Finance Wales.

The Welsh Government equity investment arm has injected an undisclosed sum into the firm in a bid to help it hire an additional three members of staff and grow its product offering.

Koherent offers a range of property software solutions aimed at promoting transparency, accuracy and improved audit in the lucrative rental market.

Letting agents, landlords, tenants and contractors can use the software to raise maintenance requests and jobs, which would often be a mundane and timely process.

The firm is currently based at the Creative Quarter in Cardiff and employs six members of staff. It has ambitions to grow further and revolutionise the way property firms work.

Brooke Williams, CEO of Koherent, said: “The support of Finance Wales is pivotal to the future of Koherent. With this funding we can now develop and grow Koherent into an innovative and market leading platform – one which will change the way lettings and estate agents work.

“This is a very exciting time for the team at Koherent and we are very grateful for the support of Finance Wales to allow us to make our industry-changing business a reality.”

Phil Barnes, an investment executive at Finance Wales, said: “Brooke and his team have developed a genuinely innovative tool which will lead to a frictionless experience for tenants, landlords and letting agents. “Koherent is already seeing take-up with letting agents and the company is in a strong growth position.”

Ross Hooper-Nash, managing director of Jeffrey Ross Estate Agents, believes that the tech will transform his company’s internal processes greatly – aiding all aspects of administration and sales.

“What Koherent will do for us is combine lots of software we currently use for different aspects of the lettings business. The company are due to begin piloting Koherent in their Cardiff branches soon,” he said.

“The software deals with tasks that currently take two or three separate programs to manage. This will help free up our staff to concentrate more on the sales side of the lettings business, rather than dealing with administration. We’ll be able to send jobs direct to contractors through Koherent’s platform, rather than depending on a paper trail,” added Hooper-Nash.

Koherent was advised on the deal by Greenaway Scott. Gemma Davies, who represents the firm, said: “We were delighted to advise Koherent on their Finance Wales investment. The company is an ambitious start-up with exciting technology and we look forward to supporting them as they grow and develop.”

Anna Elliot, from Blake Morgan, said: “This was an interesting deal involving innovative software. Finance Wales have a lot of experience working with technology start-ups, especially through the Wales Technology Seed Fund and we were delighted to act for Finance Wales on this latest investment.”