University of Derby funding trebles businesses turnover

The University of Derby Invest to Grow fund has awarded more than £75,000 to Nottinghamshire-based IT company Onomi, which has seen the business treble its turnover and create three new jobs.

The database technologies expert identified a diminishing skills base within database management and found that its customers were struggling to recruit trained technicians to undertake this type of work in-house. 

It was then that the company applied to the University’s Invest to Grow Fund to help develop the technology needed to launch a new web application that can deliver DBaaS (database as a service).

An external company was also employed to undertake security validation on the work Onomi delivers, ensuring the business has the necessary accreditations to provide services to its customers and allows them to move into new markets.

Prior to receiving the funding, all of Onomi’s revenue was generated through consultancy services. Since creating the new web application, the business has been able to shift 60-70 per cent of its revenue to managed services, which has enabled it to plan for growth and recruitment more effectively.

Invest to Grow funding has created a significant financial impact for Onomi with turnover almost trebling from £250,000 to nearly £750,000.

Director of Onomi, Andrew Slater, said: “The funding was perfect for us, it was just what we needed. It enabled us to start a process of building and selling these managed services, knowing that we would be able to properly resource it.

“From a project perspective, we still would have been sat around the £250,000 mark. We would have had a capacity limit. Access to funding was massive for us at the time, it made a big difference. It gave us the confidence to go for it.”

Mark Wheddon, Head of Strategic Programmes at the University, added: “We are pleased to support Onomi with its development of new services to benefit customers, which have ultimately led to the businesses rapid expansion and the creation of jobs.”