cornholio.group

Investment company · Est. 2026

A new kind of investment company.

We put money into technology companies, then put our own people, technology and customers behind them. If you want to get to market faster, build the right team, set the company up properly or get to a good exit, we've done it before.

Tell us what you're building

Yes, that's the real name.

Who we back

Technology companies, mostly in cybersecurity.

We back founders who want to get to market fast and build something worth buying. Most of what we invest in sits in three areas.

Our home turf

Cybersecurity

Security products, services and the companies that deliver them. It's where we've spent 23 years.

People

Resourcing

Specialist talent and delivery businesses, built the way Digisize is.

Selling

Go-to-market

Tools and services that help technology companies sell, the way Qashew does.

Already in the portfolio

Digisize Qashew Outerwall Yours?

The invite

What we bring

This is where we've had success. If your company needs any of it, we should talk.

Accelerated go-to-market

Getting a product in front of the right buyers quickly. We set the sales motion up early: who to sell to, what to say and who makes the calls. It's the same work Pat led as Chief Commercial Officer at Ekco.

See it inQashew, Ekco, Kontex

Recurring revenue

Revenue that renews every month instead of one-off projects. The companies in the portfolio are priced that way from the start, so growth stacks up rather than resetting each quarter.

See it inQashew, Digisize

Talent

Finding the right people fast. Digisize headhunts specialists in data, AI, cybersecurity and project management, and runs an engineering centre in Prishtina. The rest of the portfolio is built by that team.

See it inDigisize

Company structure

Setting a company up so it can raise money and sell cleanly: holding structures, shareholders' agreements, cap tables and leaver terms, across Ireland and Kosovo.

See it inCornholio, Digisize, Qashew

Exits

Getting to a sale and through it. Kontex was sold to Ekco and the earn-out was seen through to the end. Each company in the portfolio is set up so it can be sold on its own.

See it inKontex

Done before

Track record

Kontex → Ekco

Harvested

Cornholio's founder, Pat O'Callaghan, started Kontex in 2015 and grew it into a supplier of security technology and services to organisations around the world, and one of few dual Platinum Symantec partners. Ekco, the security-first managed cloud provider, bought it in June 2022. Pat stayed on as Ekco's Chief Commercial Officer, saw all three years of the earn-out through, and every payment came in full.

Sold to Ekco
2022
Earn-out, paid in full
3 years
Pat's role after the sale
CCO

Digisize

Popped

Digisize started trading in 2025. It places specialists in data, cybersecurity, AI and project management inside client teams, mostly in life sciences, from Waterford, Prishtina and Nevada. It's already running at more than €3.5m a year, with no outside investment.

Started trading
2025
Annual run rate
€3.5m+
Outside investment
None

Portfolio

The first batch

The first companies are pilots. Each one draws on something that's worked before, and they all sell to the same customers, so every new product starts with buyers we already know.

Cornholio
Popped

Digisize

Specialists in data, cybersecurity, AI and project management, embedded in client teams. Also the talent and engineering bench the rest of the portfolio is built on.

digisize.com ↗
Popping

Qashew

Account intelligence for technology vendors, MSPs and MSSPs. It reads an account from the public record and tells a seller what to sell from their own catalogue.

qashew.com ↗
Kernel

Outerwall

The first predictive risk fabric. Exposure management and GRC for MSSPs and MSPs, built on the same research engine as Qashew. In stealth for now.

outerwall.ai ↗
In the husk

Social advertising. That's as much as we're saying for now.

Out when it's ready

Not planted

Yours?

If you sell to the same customers, even better. They'll already know us.

Get in touch ↓

Who they all sell to

  • MSPsManaged service providers
  • MSSPsManaged security providers
  • VendorsTechnology vendors who sell through them
Cartoon of Pat O'Callaghan
Pat O'Callaghan
Pat, roughly. Hover for the real one.The real one. Also the mascot.

The founder

Pat O'Callaghan

Pat has spent 23 years in cybersecurity, starting at Symantec and then building his own companies. He's taken a startup onto national TV and radio, built a security company and sold it, run the commercial side of a fast-growing cloud business, and started three more since. He set up Cornholio to back the next ones.

  1. Symantec Principal Consultant 2005 to 2014. Eight years in enterprise security across the UK and Ireland.
  2. PwC Advisory Manager 2014. Advisory consulting, before going out on his own.
  3. TreyBro Co-founder 2014 to 2017. A location-based social app for gamers, later Gamerbase.gg. Featured on Dragons' Den Ireland and on national radio.
  4. Kontex Founder and CEO 2015 to 2022. Grew it into a supplier of security technology and services to organisations around the world, and one of few dual Platinum Symantec partners. Sold to Ekco.
  5. Ekco Chief Commercial Officer 2022 to 2025. Brought the two businesses together after the acquisition, built out go-to-market, and supported M&A and due diligence on more than six businesses.
  6. Digisize Co-founder and CEO Since 2025. Now running at more than €3.5m a year, self-funded.
  7. Qashew Founder and CEO Account intelligence for MSPs, MSSPs and technology vendors.
  8. Outerwall Co-founder The first predictive risk fabric. In stealth.
  9. Angel Investor Early-stage technology companies in Ireland.

Also in the room

The Ronans

Two of them, same name. We number them to keep the meetings short.

Cartoon of Ronan Tierney
Ronan Tierney
Ronan 1. The Digisize one.The real Ronan 1.
Ronan 1

Ronan Tierney

Co-founder, Digisize

Ronan co-founded Digisize with Pat and runs the talent side of the business. When a client needs a specialist in data, AI, cybersecurity or project management, Ronan's team finds them and gets them embedded fast.

Cartoon of Ronan O'Connor
Ronan O'Connor
Ronan 2. The Qashew one.The real Ronan 2.
Ronan 2

Ronan O'Connor

Co-founder and Head of Go-to-Market, Qashew

Ronan co-founded Qashew and runs how it sells. His go-to-market career runs through Teckro, the clinical-trials software company, IBM and Ekco.

The mascot. Go on, poke him.

The name

Why Cornholio?

There was one cartoon in the 90s I never got over. If you were watching TV back then, you'll know where the name comes from. If you weren't, ask someone who was.

I'm older now. So is he. The name stuck anyway.

The companies we back are serious businesses. The name is there to make sure we enjoy building them.

Pat

Get in touch

Building something?

If you want a hand with go-to-market, hiring, structure or the road to an exit, tell us what you're building and who buys it.

hello@cornholio.group
© 2026 Cornholio Digisize · Qashew · Outerwall · ████ cornholio.group