Financial services

Zignals launches online investment beta

11 June 2008

Irish start-up Zignals, which was established through a partnership between Microsoft and other investors, has launched a beta online service to transform investing for active traders.

Zignals will provide retail investors with state-of-the-art decision-support tools and access to a financially savvy online network that shares its own independently rated investment strategies. The beta launch of Zignals will focus on personalised services for the investor – easy-to-use alerts that can be tested, tailored and delivered directly to any e-mail address, PDA or mobile device; intuitive charting; and technical analysis – all developed using the latest Microsoft technologies, such as Silverlight.

Zignals was created through the collaboration of the Microsoft IP Ventures team, Enterprise Ireland, successful entrepreneurs Pat Brazel and Scott Tattersall, Manresa Partners, and angel investors.

“The complete absence of personalised service and access to powerful yet usable decision-support tools is often cited by smaller investors as a key constraint on improving the performance of their investment decisions,” said Pat Brazel, CEO of Zignals. “This is where we plan to change the status quo. Zignals responds to this need by democratising trading for the online investor.

“Microsoft has provided us with the resources and the technology to develop personalised communication services and optimise trading strategies using the yet-to-be-launched Microsoft Solver Foundation technology. The highly intuitive services we are building will open up a whole new world for retail investors who want to maximise the effectiveness of their investment efforts without spending every waking hour peering at screens.”

Microsoft launched the IP Ventures program in 2005 to expedite the commercialisation of new innovations developed through the company’s significant research and development investment.

“IP Ventures continues to have success in bringing together entrepreneurs, venture capital and governments to launch new companies, like Zignals, offering exciting technologies around the world,” said Dan’l Lewin, corporate vice president of strategic and emerging business development at Microsoft. “Microsoft offers entrepreneurs cutting-edge technology and an experienced team to work with to help them bring a new product or service to market. This close collaboration helps ensure long-term success for the new company and its future consumers.”

“We are delighted to be supporting the establishment of Zignals in Ireland,” said Frank Ryan, CEO of Enterprise Ireland. “We are greatly encouraged by the strong partnership with Microsoft that will bring an exciting innovation to the market while creating new enterprise in Ireland.”