Legal services provider Johnson Hana has raised €3.5m in a funding round led by BVP.

Set up by barrister and former band frontman Dan Fox in 2016, Johnson Hana provides managed legal solutions and on-demand lawyers. Clients include Bank of Ireland, Tesco and a number of government agencies.

According to Fox, the funding will be used to finance expansion into the UK and the US. The funds comprise €3m in equity and €0.5m in debt finance.

Voxpro founders Dan and Linda Kiely were among those who participated in the fundraiser. The couple invested €200,000 in Johnson Hana in March 2020, as well as €100,000 in 2017.

Other investors in the latest round include John Ryan, a PwC partner in Hong Kong; former Tullow Oil CFO Tom Hickey and UK software entrepreneur Finlay Ross. The debt was provided by Ulster Bank.

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According to its 2018 balance sheet, Johnson Hana booked a loss of c.€80,000 that year, bringing accumulated losses to €230,000. The business had net worth of €270,000 and three employees on the payroll.

“In Ireland we’ve had to create an entirely new market for alternative legal delivery from scratch,” said Fox. “In markets like the UK and US, the sector is already there, which will make it easier for us to establish a presence. We’ve seen good momentum through the year to date and we recently secured framework deals with Coillte and Ervia.”

Photo: Dan Fox (centre) with CFO Paul Ryan (left) and CCO Alex Fox (Pic: Chris Bellew/Fennell Photography)