Pat Phelan: Butcher turned dealmaker

Pat Phelan's reputation as a serial entrepreneur precedes him but in this in-depth interview he offers insight into what he looks for in a company, the problems with early stage funding, and why he'll never go into politics

Pat Phelan is now on his third company, Sisu Clinic, a business that administers lip filler and Botox injections, among other treatments. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

Serial entrepreneur Pat Phelan is a man who seems not only determined to reinvent the wheel but also himself.

Mr Phelan, who traded as a butcher in a previous life, has become one of Ireland’s most high-profile dealmakers.

Mr Phelan, whose father was a publican, said there is no history of entrepreneurship in his family. However, 22 years ago, he went through a life-changing experience which led to him re-examine his career and move towards business.

“I stopped drinking in 2000 and it was like a spark went off. From there it was a run to the finish line,” he said.

Mr Phelan is now on his third company, Sisu Clinic, a business that administers lip filler and Botox injections, among other treatments.

Before that, he founded mobile roaming business Cubic Telecom and e-commerce fraud prevention firm Trustev. He sold Cubic Telecom and eventually sold Trustev to TransUnion. He modestly said he “kind of made a lot of money” in the latter deal. The sale came to $44m (€43.7m).

After this deal, Mr Phelan stayed in New York for a while where he decided to get into shape while also thinking about what his next big business was going to be.

“I was looking at the Kardashians and ordinary brands that were really starting to come from nothing very quickly, but in the beauty space,” said Mr Phelan. 

“I was trying to fix myself as well after probably putting on six to eight stone. I was completely out of shape and started seeing it as possible to transform yourself,” he added.

He returned to Ireland and met with brothers James and Brian Cotter. At the time, the brothers, who are also doctors, had opened three Sisu Clinics and Mr Phelan saw his next business opportunity. He became a co-founder in 2018.

The business is now aiming to create 30 clinics before year-end, and most of the expansion will be focused on the US market. 

However, on July 4, Mr Phelan tweeted that two more Irish clinics will open in six weeks. He and the Cotter brothers already opened one clinic in Killarney earlier this year.

The company estimated revenue will grow to over €12m this year and staff will increase from 70 to 200.

Ireland’s interest in Botox has grown over the years, especially with global Botox maker Allergan investing over €750m in its facility in Westport in recent years.

“I think the future for me is that people are going to look after themselves totally different and incredibly well. What we're seeing is this move towards treatments which are tiny little changes,” said Mr Phelan.

There's been a move away from people wanting to look younger to people wanting to look better." 

The business has now found itself not only tapping into a gap in the market but lobbying the Government on regulation of the products it administers and which Mr Phelan has also used himself.

There are currently no regulations in Ireland for the administration of injectable dermal fillers, which has led to a rise in people doing it themselves or getting it from unqualified people.

“Anyone can buy them. A mechanic can buy them today from any supplier, go do a one-day course and stick filler into your face. Which is just insanely dangerous,” said Mr Phelan.

This has led to many healthcare professionals calling for more regulation to be brought in as, if injected incorrectly, some of these beauty treatments can result in blindness and breathing difficulties.

“This leads to an environment in which you have a lot of people operating purely for profit,” said Brian Cotter. “We want people to experience what we call the medical model.”

A lack of regulation will eventually lead to a “catastrophic” tragedy and cause “public outcry”, said Dr Cotter.

While Sisu continues to grow, Mr Phelan is also an avid investor and has put funds into companies such as digital meetings firm Clearword.

However, through his investor lens, he has noticed several issues in this market.

“There's a dramatic gap in seed funding in Ireland, in the very early stage at almost ideation. And I'm very happy to say I've done loads of them,” he said.

There's loads of A and B and C funding. But it's at that seed round stage where there's a dramatic lack of investment.”

He suggested that there should be some sort of tax incentive introduced for high-earning entrepreneurs to invest in smaller businesses.

“What will happen naturally, as a bunch of us build up and sell multiple businesses, and we get our rewards, we will begin to invest. I look at Des Traynor from Intercom, he’s probably one of the best seed funders in the country,” said Mr Phelan.

Sisu has raised a reported $11m; $5.5m of this came from a series A round led by Greycroft and Bullpen Capital which funded its international expansion. Mr Phelan said the company never received capital through grants.

Sisu is scaling at a speedy pace, but if Mr Phelan is true to form he will inevitably move on to something else. One thing is for sure, this will not be politics.

“Absolutely never. Not in a billion years,” he said.

“People might think I’m political but I’m not. The only thing political I've ever done is I campaigned once for [Fianna Fáil representative] Sandra Murphy on a night near my house.” 

However, Mr Phelan voiced his concerns about how the country is run.

“Our services are falling apart, like, our health service is a disaster and our services appear to take ages to be fixed and that does bother me intensely,” he said. “But to be a politician? No, thanks. I wouldn't have the vocabulary or the lack of action,” said Mr Phelan.

This article was edited on July 14, 2022 to remove a reference to the regulation of Botox (which is regulated and only available on prescription) and now correctly reads 'dermal fillers'.