Done Deal

UXDI was established in 2013 by founder Colman Walsh

UX DI ups British presence with €1.5m deal

The UX Design Institute (UXDI) will offer its professional diploma in UX (user experience) Design in the British market through online learning provider Learning People in a deal valued at about €1.5 million over three years.

The agreement will see the UXDI strengthen its presence in Britain and enter new markets in Australia and New Zealand for the first time in partnership with Learning People.

Currently, 30 per cent of the UXDI’s revenue comes from Britain, followed by Ireland, the US, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

“Our mission is to make tech careers simple by delivering up-to-date training, aligned to what employers are looking for,” said Patrick Aylmer, chief executive at Learning People. “The UXDI’s unique accreditation from Glasgow Caledonian University and its links with industry ensures our students have access to the best UX education on the market. We expect very strong course uptake.”

The UXDI was established in 2013 by founder Colman Walsh and employs 10 people in Dublin.

Reptile zoo raises €40,000

The National Reptile Zoo in Gowran, Co Kilkenny, has raised a €40,000 loan on peer-to-peer lending platform Linked Finance. The visitor attraction, Ireland’s only dedicated reptile zoo, will use the funds to expand, with a new facility due to open on-site this autumn.

The zoo was established three years ago by founder James Hennessy and is home to 200 animals and 50 different species, including alligators, Monitor lizards, rattle snakes, cobras and poison dart frogs. It had 30,000 visitors last year.

Instalment payment alternative

Consumer finance company Flexi-Fi is partnering with Homebase to offer the DIY retail chain’s customers an alternative to cash and credit card payments. Flexi-Fi is a retail payment plan facility that allows approved users to pay for items in instalments after they have bought them.

“Our partnership is really all about offering simple access to finance for customers while facilitating retailers to increase their basket sizes and offset the current challenges the industry faces,” said PJ Byrne, chief executive at Flexi-Fi.