18th June 2015
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, has today (Thursday) announced that up to €65m is being made available for co-investment in seed funds, and issued an open competitive call to fund managers to signal their interest in establishing funds.
Minister issues competitive call for funds to signal their interest in securing investment from Enterprise Ireland to create the next generation of Seed Funds
€65million will be leveraged with additional private sector investment to create funds for investment in start-ups
The funding has been provided by the Department of Jobs through Enterprise Ireland.
The €65m is the second competitive call under the Seed & Venture Capital Scheme (2013 – 2018). The launch of this call is a key action under the Action Plan for Jobs programme to support Irish start-ups and complements the other funding initiatives that have been established by Government. In 2014, Enterprise Ireland client companies created 19,705 new jobs. Start-ups that are supported now will underpin increased job creation in the future.
Enterprise Ireland is inviting expressions of interests from funds to meet the venture capital demand from high potential Irish start-ups. Funds that can demonstrate an ability to raise capital and support company growth are invited to make a submission under this call.
Enterprise Ireland is interested in funds that will invest in areas that reflect its key strategic sectors including; food, software, fintech, general ICT, services, cleantech and lifeSciences. Given the importance and challenges faced by companies spinning out from third level institutions, funds in this space are sought.
Advertisements will appear in national newspapers this week seeking co-investors for this funding.
Making the announcement Minister Bruton said:
“Two thirds of all new jobs in the Irish economy are created by start-ups in their first five years of existence – that is why we have developed a range of new supports for entrepreneurs and start-ups as part of our jobs plan. New funding instruments are a key part of this, including our drive to create a world-class venture capital industry here. Today’s announcement that a further €65million of funding from Enterprise Ireland is being made available to leverage several multiples of that in private sector funding and ultimately invest in fast-growing start-ups is an important step in this drive.
Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, commented: ‘A functioning and competitive venture capital market is essential to our companies if they are to start and scale successfully. The existing Seed Funds have been hugely effective in increasing the amount of funding available to our start-ups and have helped create a vibrant and dynamic portfolio of high growth companies. Through the existing seed funds, which are in receipt of considerable investment from the Irish banking sector, we have seen significant investment in high potential start-ups. The next generation of Seed Funds targeted for establishment under this initiative will create a new platform to support commercialisation of ideas, company establishment and most importantly job creation.
Further details are available at: www.enterprise-ireland.com/svcapital.
ENDS
Today’s announcement marks the delivery of a key commitment under Action Plan for Jobs 2015.
To date, close to €99.5m of the total €175m committed under the Seed & Venture Capital Scheme (2013-2018) has been committed and a number of funds have successfully reached their fundraising targets.
For further information contact:
Press Office, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Tel. 01 6312200 or
email: press.office@djei.ie
Press Office, Enterprise Ireland, Alan Hobbs, Alan.Hobbs@enterprise-ireland.com, or 086 8699 703
NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information, download the Seed and Venture Capital Programme Report 2013:
www.enterprise-ireland.com/EI_Corporate/en/Publications/Reports-Published-Strategies/Seed-and-Venture-Capital-Report-2013.pdf
Back to Department News