Lack of funding for young firms feared
At its annual Venture Capital Conference, in Belfast yesterday, the agency noted that the current landscape — with regard to seed funding for small companies — has never been better, in relation to both business angel finance and seed venture capital. However, it added that a “funding gap” in post-seed financing is possibly developing.
“There is strong evidence from across Europe, that governments need to continue to take a lead in pump priming venture capital funding for seed, early-stage and expanding companies. Northern Ireland and Ireland are no exceptions. The high risks of investing in these equity investment stages often don’t appeal to the private sector. However, there are potentially huge rewards for the broader economy when the state takes a lead in these critical investment stages,” InterTrade Ireland said, yesterday, in a message which mirrored feelings from many of the conference’s speakers.
