From Left to Right: Wilma Ernskine (Special Advisor, Obbi Golf), Gareth Macklin (Founder & CEO Obbi Golf) and Chris McAtackney (Chief Product Officer, Obbi Golf), Patrick McAliskey

A Belfast sports tech company aimed at the golfing world is creating 14 jobs after winning major private equity funding.

Obbi Golf, which provides software to help golf clubs manage their compliance, safety and training, has raised £1.25 million in investment from TechStart Ventures and a number of individuals, including the former head and founder of local IT company Novosco Patrick McAliskey.

Mr McAliskey will now become chair of Obbi Golf as it focuses on accelerating its growth plans. The news comes as the firm celebrates one year of operation, during which time it has picked up clients including some of the top golf clubs in the world.

Gareth Macklin, founder of Obbi Golf, said the new investors share in the company’s vision. He said: “Securing this funding enables us to accelerate our growth plans quicker than we have ever imagined along with expanding our team. This is an extremely exciting time for the entire Obbi Golf team and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped along the journey.”

He feels that the company’s software can simply golf club operation. He commented: “Golf clubs have a lot of moving parts, and it can be challenging to manage all the policies and processes involved with compliance, safety and training. From conducting regular safety inspections to managing incident reports and employee training, there is a lot to keep track
of.

Where these critical processes have traditionally been paper-based or not done at all, we knew that our product would give peace of mind to club managers.” Investor and company chair Patrick McAliskey said he was excited to be working with the company.

He said: “Obbi Golf is truly improving safety and compliance in the golfing industry and has the potential to achieve really big things. The company has a very strong team and they have the vision, the ambition and the plan to grow significantly both locally and on a global basis.”