Salford tech firm DataCentred unveils £1m growth plans

North West tech firm DataCentred is looking to expand after securing a £500k loan.

The six-figure boost from Barclays, matched by a further £500k from DataCentred’s existing investors, will allow the Salford-based firm to expand its OpenStack infrastructure and grow its workforce.

Established in 2012, DataCentred provides data centre and open-source computer processing and storage systems.

The company has attributed much of its growth to the rise of Big Data, rich content delivery and hyperscale end-user applications – all of which it believes are driving growth in the demand for cloud computing and storage capabilities.

DataCentred’s founder and chief exec, Dr. Mike Kelly, said: “DataCentred has been well supported by our initial investors to date, and the opportunity provided by Barclays’ innovative finance, allows us to move rapidly to fund a significant expansion of our cloud.

“This investment, along with an additional £500k from our existing investors allows us to make a substantial step up in the range of services we are able to provide our core government clients, and to continue to develop the profound capability of our cloud team.

He continued: “As the business grows, our ability to access a wider range of capital will be key to our plans for substantial, sustained growth. We look forward to working with Barclays now and in the future, to develop our business.”

David Parr, a Manchester-based relationship director for Barclays, said: “As part of our plans at Barclays to enhance our high-growth offering to the market, we are extending our lending capabilities and credit appetite in the technology sector for ambitious, entrepreneurial businesses like DataCentred.

“In addition to our existing venture loan, we have launched Innovation Finance; this enables us to offer greater support to the market by allowing earlier lending to the most promising of high-growth companies and preferential pricing for all qualifying high-growth companies, allowing more funds to be re-invested into the business.”