Making it Work

Ronspot looks to book top three spot in hybrid systems sector after raising €1.1m

The firm, which runs desk management systems for companies, has experienced a period of unprecedented growth and plans to become one of the top companies in the world in its sector

Michael Furey, founder, Ronspot: ‘A year and a half ago, nobody had heard of us, and we were going out looking for the customers that are now coming to us.’ Picture: Andrew Downes

Ronspot, the Galway-headquartered firm specialising in desk booking and hybrid working, is aiming to become one of the top three companies in the world in its sector having raised €1.1 million to drive its global expansion.

The business, which was founded by Michael Furey, has increased its revenues in recent years having pivoted in the pandemic to serve an almost entirely new market.

Last week, Ronspot announced the closure of a new funding round worth €1.1 million, led by Furthr VC and including investment from Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) and Enterprise Ireland.

It came after a period of unprecedented growth, Furey told the Business Post, but it also followed a period of intense uncertainty for the company in the early days of the pandemic.

Ronspot began as a corporate car parking platform, helping big companies to manage the parking demands of their employees.

Initially, the product “went really well”, and the business began adding more customers based on word of mouth. It also started adding new staff, reinvesting its profits to grow what looked like a promising business model.

But then Covid-19 hit and all but obliterated the assumptions on which Ronspot’s operations were built. With nobody driving to work, there was no need for a workplace parking system, so the company had to reassess its options.

“That was scary, really, looking back,” Furey said. “Because all we did was manage car parks for companies, and everybody globally went home overnight. Everything disappeared overnight.”

Ronspot began examining the idea of desk management systems, and started building a platform to help companies manage future hybrid work arrangements. With that pitch it successfully raised €650,000 in seed funding from HBAN investors.

“That funding was huge, because it allowed me to go and hire some digital marketing people directly into the company,” Furey said. “We got some great sales people, and grew the IT team.”

The idea worked. In two years, Ronspot has increased its revenues from €50,000 to €1 million – and now it has won fresh investment to grow its sales and its headcount further.

Today, Ronspot’s platform is used by 200 companies across more than 30 countries, Furey said. “We’re in Australia, South America, North America, India, all over Europe.”

Desk booking, and hybrid working, is becoming an increasingly crowded marketplace. But Ronspot believes it has early mover advantage, and Furey said the company’s product could be configured to the needs of both big and small clients.

“All our customers now are inbound, which is great. Because a year and a half ago, nobody had heard of us, and we were going out looking for the customers that are now coming to us.”

In the short term, Ronspot is targeting growth in Europe with a particular focus on the German market.

But beyond that it is intent on becoming one of the world’s biggest players, Furey said. “We want to be in the top three in the world. We’re very out there about that. And it’s a journey that we’re on, but we’re straight up about that. We have all the systems in place to get there.”

This Making it Work article is produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland