AIB primed for seed funding

ALLIED Irish Bank is anticipating a record year of seed funding investment in 2012 and expects to support the creation of at least 20 new high-performing, innovative businesses in the coming year.

Investment in 2011 supported 130 high-value jobs with the same number of jobs targeted in 2012. AIB facilitates the provision of such finance through two dedicated Seed Capital Funds, which have a total €75 million available for investment, making AIB the largest provider of seed capital funding in Ireland.

The funds are two of four specialist Seed Capital Funds, totalling €124m, formed with Government support as part of the bank recapitalisation mandate.

The first fund is AIB Seed Capital Fund, which has a total of €53m under management by Enterprise Equity Venture Capital, €23m of which is provided by Enterprise Ireland.

The second fund is AIB Start-up Accelerator Fund, which manages a total of €22m, of which €2m was contributed by Enterprise Ireland.

This fund is managed by ACT Venture Capital.

In 2011, both funds will have received over 400 enquiries from early stage businesses seeking seed capital investment. The internet, healthcare and software sectors are the primary drivers of enquiries.

The portfolio of companies has a strong regional balance, with Dublin being the most frequent source of enquiries and investments.

The cumulative amount approved for investment since the funds were created is €15m, which translates to 78 investments in 50 projects supporting 350 jobs.

AIB is expected to have invested approximately €6m in 2011 alone in 20 new investments in early stage companies.