9th January 2015
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, today (Friday) announced the initial closing of Fountain Healthcare Partners II, L.P. with €85 million of committed capital.
First fund announcement under Seed and Venture Capital Scheme 2013-2018
9th January 2015
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, today (Friday) announced the initial closing of Fountain Healthcare Partners II, L.P. with €85 million of committed capital. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland has made a €15 million commitment to the Fund with the majority of the balance of funding coming from institutional investors including through the Irish Strategic Investment Fund and the European Investment Fund (EIF).
This is Fountain Healthcare Partners second Fund. The fund is a dedicated life sciences (specialty pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and diagnostics) venture capital (VC) firm and brings Fountain’s total capital under management to €158 million. Over the lifetime of the Fund it is expected to make 10-15 investments.
Analysis of the Seed and Venture Capital Scheme 2007-2012 indicates that for every €100 million invested as part of the Scheme, more than €70 million of that is invested in Irish companies, with the creation of over 1,000 jobs here.
Today's announcement will result in an increase in the availability of funding for innovative companies in the life sciences sector in Ireland to support company development, growth and job creation.
Making the announcement Minister Bruton said: “A key part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs is putting in place new sources of credit for Irish businesses, as part of our drive to create a powerful engine of Irish enterprise. Over the past three years we have established new finance schemes which are making available a total of well over €2 billion to Irish businesses.
“International evidence shows that the presence of a dynamic seed and venture industry is crucial to this. To support more innovative and internationally oriented start-ups that can go fast to market and scale, we must increase the availability of venture capital to facilitate company growth and job creation. In this context, I am delighted to welcome the establishment of this new €85m venture capital fund from Fountain Healthcare. This will increase the availability of funding for the innovative Irish life sciences companies we are trying to support – and help them grow faster and ultimately create the jobs we need right around the country”.
Dr Manus Rogan, co-Founder and Managing Partner at Fountain commented: “Fountain’s investment strategy focuses on building a balanced portfolio of companies with complimentary risk and return profiles within the life sciences sector. This strategy has resulted in both strong absolute and relative returns from our first fund. The performance of our first fund is reflected in both the level and quality of new and existing investor participation in Fund II. With €85 million raised we are also pleased to have exceeded our initial close target of €75 million against a widely accepted challenging fundraising backdrop in the venture capital sector.”
Julie Sinnamon, CEO Enterprise Ireland, commented: "I would like to congratulate Fountain Healthcare Partners on their success in raising their second fund. Enterprise Ireland looks forward to working with the team to drive the further development and growth of the Irish life sciences sector”.
Eugene O’Callaghan, Director of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, said: “Innovation in the life sciences sector offers great potential for the Irish economy and Fountain has a proven investment team in this field. Investing in this fund is consistent with the ISIF’s twin objectives of generating commercial investment returns and supporting economic activity and employment in Ireland”.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Press Office, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, 01 6312200, press.office@djei.ie.
Eileen Banks, Press Officer, Enterprise Ireland, T: 01-7272805, M: 087-2445814, eileen.banks@enterprise-ireland.com
Fountain Healthcare Partners
Manus Rogan | Managing Partner Manus.Rogan@fh-partners.com
T: +353 1 5225111
Jonathan Neilan | FTI Consulting jonathan.neilan@fticonsulting.com
T: +353 1 6633686, M: +353 (0) 86 231 4135
Jennifer Peters | FTI Consulting jennifer.peters@fticonsulting.com
T: +353 1 6633684, M: +353 (0) 87 178 7021
Notes for Editors:
About Fountain Healthcare Partners
Fountain Healthcare Partners is a life science venture capital fund with offices in Dublin and New York. Founded in 2008, Fountain is Ireland’s largest dedicated life science venture capital fund with more than €155M under management.
Fountain invests in entrepreneurs and companies with disruptive technologies or products that have a clear pharmaeconomic benefit and a defined pathway to commercialisation, value enhancement and exit. Fountain typically leads or co-leads its investments and has sourced private and public deals from start-ups, corporate spin-outs and turnaround situations. The four principals of Fountain, Manus Rogan, Aidan King, Ena Prosser and Justin Lynch brings to investees over 70 years of collective experience in the pharmaceutical industry, corporate venture capital and VC across multiple investment and market cycles.
For more information please visit www.fh-partners.com
About the Enterprise Ireland Seed and Venture Capital Scheme 2013-2018
Under the Seed and Venture Capital scheme Enterprise Ireland aims to leverage private sector funds to create total of €700 million for investment through committing €175m to the venture capital sector. The Scheme is a key part of Government’s plans to support the development of Irish industry as a powerful engine of economic and employment growth.
In May 2013, Minister Bruton announced the first competitive call for expressions of interest under the Scheme. This process saw Enterprise Ireland committing €99.5m to venture capital funds targeting investment in the wider ICT and life sciences sectors. Further announcements of the establishment of funds and further expressions of interest will be forthcoming under the Scheme. Under the scheme fund managers commit to investing a minimum of double Enterprise Ireland’s commitment in Irish companies.
About Ireland Strategic Investment Fund
The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) was established on 22 December 2014 with a statutory mandate to invest on a commercial basis in a manner designed to support economic activity and employment in the State. The assets of the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) became assets of the ISIF on the ISIF’s establishment (except for assets governed by foreign law which remain NPRF assets until their transfer). €7.1 billion in the NPRF ‘discretionary portfolio’ will be available for investment in accordance with the ISIF’s mandate as set out above. €13.3 billion in the NPRF’s ‘directed portfolio’ will continue to be managed at the direction of the Minister for Finance.
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