Dublin-based fintech Aerlytix, which specialises in the aircraft leasing sector, is broadening its services to work directly with airlines.
Founded in 2020 by Alan Doyle, Eoin Dalton, Leo Perria, and Claudio Viotti, Aerlytix currently employs 34 staff and has raised €10 million in funding to date.
“We help companies who invest in aircraft, whether that’s lending, borrowing, buying or selling, to understand the cash flows over the aircraft’s lifetime,” Doyle told the Business Post.
The idea for Aerlytix was developed while working in aircraft leasing, where Doyle found the technology around asset management in the sector had room for improvement.
“I was working in investment banking in London for a long time and then came back to Ireland. I worked with a lessor and I found it was manually intensive and the technology hadn’t really been developed,” he said.
“I started working on proof of concepts based on what is used in other asset classes, like equities and derivatives. That’s what we’ve been building out ever since.”
Aerlytix had tough timing for its launch as air travel by and large came to a standstill shortly after the business was founded. Despite that hindrance, it managed to build through the pandemic and has expanded substantially in the years since.
“We found our first two clients just before Covid hit. We hired remotely without seeing anyone in person for around 12 months. We have built it up since to now have more than 25 clients including lessors and banks,” Doyle said.
The business is supported by Enterprise Ireland and Doyle said that Aerlytix engaged the agency as it sought to expand the company’s focus.
“We were building out the platform for the leasing and lending space, and felt that a lot of work had been done in that space and wanted to widen our scope. That includes the airline space itself.
“Due to the way the company was growing, Enterprise Ireland recommended we go for a research and development grant. We are doing research as we speak around the airline space, which we think will be a great product.”
Doyle said the assistance from Enterprise Ireland was helping the company attract clients.
“They’re helping us with introductions in the space. That’s really helpful to us as we launch the product.”
Doyle is quite bullish on the future of Aerlytix and he is hopeful that the company will grow critical to become a key player in the wider industry.
“We want to connect the different players in the sector, using technology to do that. We think that will help us grow globally. We’re growing fast and into lots of different areas within the industry. We’re just at the beginning of this journey, I genuinely think the company will be huge.”
This Making it Work article was produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland