An online software company which was launched less than a year ago is celebrating after signing up its 3,000th company.

Ipswich-based Inform Direct provides a cloud-based solution which enables businesses and their professional advisers to manage all their company records online.

The service provides a platform for a range of actions including submitting annual returns, updating shareholder records, creating share certificates, changing a company’s name, producing dividend vouchers and forming a new company.

Inform Direct was formed by Ipswich entrepreneur Henry Catchpole who in late 2013 set out to raise £300,000 in funding via crowdfunding platform Syndicate Room.

In the event, it managed to attract £450,000 in total funding in less than two weeks, with the support of some notable business angels, high net-worth individuals and other investors.

Mr Catchpole said of the launch: “The platform is a helpful tool for all businesses, whether you are an accountancy practice managing the records of hundreds of clients, a bookkeeper managing ten or a small business owner looking after your own affairs.

“It saves you time and ensures everything is all in one place. It also helps you by ensuring actions such as company returns are completed on time.

“Because it’s so useful to businesses we knew it would have a large market reach, but even we are staggered by the early success and we are really grateful to everyone who has signed up to use it.”

The site’s 3,000th company was registered by London-based MessageMail which already managed a number of companies on the Inform Direct platform.