'It's very difficult for traditional business to find funding because everyone is looking for apps'

WHEN INVESTORS ARE scouring the business world for the next big thing, they’re probably not thinking about the catering sector.

But one Carlow startup wants to change that – and it has already recruited significant backing to get its flagship product to a wider market.

CBL Equipment has developed a patented, waterless chafing dish, called the Castle Chafer, and is on the hunt for another €200,000 in investment after receiving €300,000 in funding to date.

James Kearney, who left his job as chief officer in the merchant navy to become general manager at the young firm, said it can be a tough slog raising funds for a business when you’re not pitching the next Snapchat to investors.

“It is very difficult for traditional-type businesses to find funding right now because everyone is looking for apps that solves everyone’s problems,” he said.

“I don’t think we’re a unicorn or we’re going to spin into a billion-dollar business, it’s just that the funding environment at the moment seems to be very focused on digital.”

CBL Equipment's James and Jim Kearney

The company’s core pitch is that its chafing dish, a catering-industry staple used to keep food warm at buffets, is significantly more efficient – and therefore cheaper to run – than the standard products on the market.

Some €60,000 of the company’s current investment round has already been committed, and Enterprise Ireland has committed to match its funding if the firm hits the €200,000 goal.

“I try meet people who themselves have been in physical business and moving products around,” Kearney said.

“You also try to find people who are fed up with being approached about digital businesses and, when they talk to us, they understand the business the minute they see it – which helps raise investment.”

Development funding

To bankroll the research and development and prototyping of the product, Kearney secured a previous funding round of €300,000, which included €50,000 from Enterprise Ireland, €10,000 from the Intertrade Ireland Seedcorn Awards and the remainder from 14 private investors.

The next stage of investment will be used to bolster staff, including sales and marketing specialists, as Keaney and his inventor father Jim seek to expand the fledgling firm.

It has already launched its first production units in Ireland, the UK and Germany, with the initial container load due to arrive next week.

Kearney added he would prefer to be focussed on drumming up sales for the company but investment had become his main pursuit.

“Your business becomes fundraising. We want to get to the point where we are selling high volumes of product, but fundraising always takes two or three times longer than you hoped it would.

“I mean, our milestones such as sales targets are always getting pushed out and it’s infuriating.

“We have major distributors signed up in Ireland and the UK and we’re starting to talk to distributors across Europe as well, so I know if we had the money, we would hit the targets.”