Irish RegTech start-up company Customs Window Technologies said today it has closed a €800,000 seed funding round.
Customs Window Technologies provides companies with a smart comprehensive system to address the increasing complexity and volume of customs declarations and associated compliance requirements.
Its latest funding round, led by private and EIIS investors, with the support of Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) funding, will be used by the company to scale into the UK market.
With over 91 million customs declarations submitted to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) last year and with further regulatory changes planned in the UK for 2025 likely to increase this number, the UK market represents a strategic expansion opportunity for the company.
Customs Window was founded in 2022 by Brian Murphy and Johnny Dunne and is headquartered at NexusUCD in Dublin.
Mike Stalley, founder and CEO of Fiscal Reps, a tax compliance software firm which he sold in 2017 to Sovos is among the private investors and will advise the company on its UK and international strategic growth plans.
Customs responsibilities in Europe and globally have not only become more complex, with more data and more details required than ever before, but the number of annual declarations has increased significantly, the company noted today.
In Ireland alone, the number of declarations has gone from under 2 million in 2020 to over 54 million in 2023 driven by ecommerce, post-Brexit regulations and ever-changing EU regulations, it added.
Brian Murphy, COO and co-founder of Customs Window Technologies, said the company was established partly as a response to Brexit, but also in response to a lack of compliance in the area of customs.
"The significant and ongoing growth in e-commerce and post-Brexit regulatory changes has put the issue of customs compliance in sharp focus not only here in Ireland but also in the UK and indeed across Europe," he said.
"In addition, what is often forgotten is that a company's compliance obligations with customs live long after goods have been delivered. Our system addresses the compliance risks that companies face when dealing with customs authorities, removes the complexity out of the customs declaration process and protects customs datasets through time," he added.
"I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank our private and EIIS investors, along with Enterprise Ireland, for supporting Customs Window in our seed round which will enable us to expand by rolling out our system to new customers in the UK, a key target market for the company," Johnny Dunne, CEO and co-founder of Customs Window Technologies said.
Customs Window previously secured Enterprise Ireland Pre-Seed Start Fund funding of €100,000.
