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It was conviction that set businessman Declan Kearney on the road to setting up a software company with global ambitions.

“I’m not a technologist but I had a practical business plan,” says Kearney, who prior to founding Supplierforce held a number of senior sales positions within GE Capital Woodchester Brokers, Vodafone and Verizon.

Kearney grew to believe that organisations could save up to 5pc of their annual procurement spend by better management of their suppliers.

“I got funding and set myself up in NovaUCD in 2004 and outsourced the creation of the software to local developers.”

His idea was to transform the typical management of a range of suppliers into a centralised software system to generate compliance across the supplier base.

Since starting up, Jurys Doyle Hotel Group and telecoms operator O2 Ireland have deployed his technology.

“The business plan is based on globalising what we’re doing. I’ve raised €2m so far and certainly funding will be required to grow to an international level.”

Revenue was critical and after attending an Enterprise Ireland and Irish Software Association SalesStar training course, he was on his way.

“I experienced the common challenges: getting in front of target customers, identifying business partners, executing the business plan and securing sufficient funding.

“Without private funding it would have been very challenging. I believe state supports could be better conveyed to start-ups and made more easily accessible,” Kearney adds.