Donegal tech firm Cerebreon that predicted insolvencies collapses as founders set up new venture

A Donegal tech company, whose artificial intelligence platform was set up to help detect looming business failures, has collapsed.

But the founders of Cerebreon Technologies – CEO Gillian Doyle and Kenneth Doyle – set up a new company called Finnius Intelligence just days before an extraordinary general meeting of Cerebreon in Donegal last month at which a liquidator was appointed to the firm.

Finnius states that its activity is the “development of software used by insolvency practitioners in the UK, specifically for IVAs”.

IVAs are Individual Voluntary Arrangements in the UK that insolvent people there can enter into.

The other director of Finnius is UK-based accountant Justin Moore.

Cerebreon Technologies had raised about €2m in backing from Enterprise Ireland and other investors since it was established in 2016.

Cerebreon developed an AI platform that scanned paper documents to help clients such as financial institutions to manage debt portfolios.

The predictive system helped those clients to identify when indebted customers including consumers could face challenging financial circumstances that affect their ability to repay debt.

The platform allowed clients to pinpoint customers that might need payment breaks or other assistance with their debt.

It had targeted the UK market and in 2020 the firm was selected to take part in Accenture’s high-profile global fintech accelerator programme.

Accenture described the Irish firm has having a “unique proposition” that can “transform debt recovery” for creditors.

However, despite the promise the company showed as well as significant funding received, Cerebreon was unable to survive.

“It has been proved to the satisfaction of this meeting that the company cannot, by reason of its liabilities, continue its business and that it is advisable to wind up same and that accordingly, the company be, and is hereby wound up voluntarily as a creditors’ voluntary winding up,” according to a notice in the official register, Iris Oifigiúil.

The company held an extraordinary general meeting in Donegal late last month at which the liquidation was approved.

Cerebreon raised €1.7m in 2020 in a seed funding round that was led by Delta Partners.

Other backers in the round included the Western Development Commission, business angel network Hban, Growing Capital and Consilience Ventures.

Enterprise Ireland had invested more than €500,000 in the firm

Reporting: The Irish Independent