With its sales increasing rapidly, Halifax startup Novawise Inc. has closed a six-figure funding round from the First Angel Network to finance its international sales effort.

CEO David MacKinnon said Friday that the funding was worth “significant six figures”, and that the offering was oversubscribed by 50 percent. The company may end up selling its customer relationship management software to some members of the investment group, said MacKinnon, who described himself as “ecstatic” by the experience of working with FAN.  

Founded in 2011 by MacKinnon and Chief Technology Officer Steve Macdonald, Novawise is developing CRM software for pharmaceuticals and other regulated industries. The company is now completing initial sales to pharma clients and expects to soon conclude an agreement with a major reseller in Japan.

 “What First Angel has enabled us to do is to concentrate on closing those deals instead of worrying about cash flow,” said MacKinnon.

Novawise’s CRM solution collects data from sales reps in the field, allowing them to question potential purchasers and report back with the results. The system then analyses the data in reports for managers, and is flexible enough that managers can rewrite the questions while the sales people are out on their calls. Originally designed for the pharmaceutical industry, the team has enhanced the software so it is now applicable to other industries, especially those with strong regulatory oversight, including telecommunications and the oil industry.

The company grew quietly with $750,000 in seed funding in 2011, then last year added $350,000 from unnamed angel investors from the Atlantic region, and a further unspecified investment from Mariner, a diverse consulting and IT services company, and East Valley Ventures, a financing and support group for tech companies. Both Mariner and East Valley have strong links to investor Gerry Pond.

Though Novawise has built up relationships with some of the leading tech backers in the region, MacKinnon has stressed repeatedly how much he values the mentorship and connections he’s gained from Brian Lowe, Ross Finlay and the members of FAN. He was among their loudest supporters when the network was criticized earlier this year for charging companies to pitch to their investors. MacKinnon said the charges to FAN were lower than what it would have cost to fly to larger cities to meet investors, and it certainly took less time.