Galvia, a Galway based artificial intelligence (AI) business, expects to turn profitable this year as it expands into continental Europe.
Galvia was founded in 2017 by John Clancy. The business has 10 staff and has raised €3.2 million in funding.
Galvia - the name is derived from the Latin for Galway - has offices in both Galway and Dublin. The business uses AI to help clients have a better understanding of their data.
“Every organisation has hopes and trepidations for AI. We use it to transform our clients’ data, using it to help them understand what’s going to happen in their business, why it’s going to happen and what they need to do,” Clancy told the Business Post.
“This allows clients to focus on problems that aren’t right in front of them, revealing the hidden patterns in their data. Instead of being reactive, they can be proactive.”
Clancy previously worked for Digicel, in Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. It was this experience in the South Pacific that inspired him to develop his own business.
“I saw first-hand how technology impacts people’s lives at a basic level. When I came back, I went to a couple of events and met my eventual chief technology officer, Mohammad Waqar, at one of them and we just clicked.
“We wanted to see whether AI could make a real difference and have a real impact on businesses. From there I started reaching out to my LinkedIn network discussing the idea.”
It was through this outreach that Clancy landed Nestlé as Galvia’s first client. Its other clients included Entity Data, Cambridge University and University of Galway.
“Initially our focus was on global enterprises, honing our craft around machine learning. Then I looked at the market and figured the tool could be used by businesses of all sizes. This way businesses could harness the power of AI in weeks rather than a six-month or 12-week programme,” he said.
“All businesses tend to have the same issues. They tend to have data sitting in silos with none of it interacting. They want to connect up this intelligence so they can get a picture of what is happening.”
Galvia has been supported by Enterprise Ireland since its early days and Clancy said the agency had been an enormous help to his business.
“We’re very lucky, we’ve had a fantastic development advisor who has been with us since the start.
“For any business trying to scale, it’s a challenge, so we’ve leaned into Enterprise Ireland’s overseas teams to provide us help and introductions. They have been really good,” Clancy said.
“When we first started up we joined a founders forum with other peers. There’s still six of us that keep in touch in a WhatsApp group sharing ideas and advice.”
Clancy said the focus now is on scaling the business internationally, which will involve creating 10 new jobs by the end of 2025.
“We’re going to have a good year this year. We will double the team to 20 over the next 18 months. We’ve got traction in Netherlands and Poland. I want to get aggressive. The opportunity for us in Europe is now,” he said.
“We’ve got AI that delivers results. We know it works. We’ve proven with the biggest companies in the world that it works, now we want to go and scale.”
This Making it Work article is produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland