Value of Enterprise Ireland partnership funds to rise after €34m investment

THIS year should see the combined value of investment from the various Enterprise Ireland partnership funds rise by about 30%, with the number of actual investment projects doubling at least.

Yesterday, Enterprise Ireland issued its Seed and Venture Capital Report for 2008. This detailed how €34 million was invested last year by Enterprise Ireland Partnership Funds – the various seed capital and venture capital funds in which the state development agency contributes half the investment with partners putting up the rest – into 104 different start-up and SME projects.

The timing of funds being allocated and the extra funds being made available from the main two banks – AIB and Bank of Ireland – via the Government’s recapitalisation plan means a significant growth in the amount of money invested and the number of projects invested in, can be expected for this year. However, Enterprise Ireland is not likely to release figures for 2009 funding projects for another 12 months.