Venture capital firms invest €42m

ENTERPRISE Ireland-supported venture capital firms invested €42m in 74 companies last year.

The amount was down by €9m on 2009, but VCs pumped money into 10 more companies in 2010 than they did during the previous 12 months. Enterprise Ireland called 2010’s showing “a significant result”, which mirrored the strong performance by exporters and the increase in innovative start-up enterprises.

The Enterprise Ireland Seed & Venture Capital Programme 2010 Report, published yesterday, showed a continuing increase in seed funding for entrepreneurs and early stage start-ups.