Investors’ €52m boost to start-ups

Start-ups continue to manage to tap venture capital funding despite the credit crunch with companies pulling down €52.1m from investors in the first three months of 2013.

The VenturePulse survey which is sponsored by William Fry and completed with the Irish Venture Capital Association found that the levels of venture capital in Ireland had been maintained.

“This is similar to last year and a highly satisfactory performance especially as activity in international markets is experiencing significant volatility.

“For example US quarter numbers are down 6%, as the global credit crunch continues to bite,” said Manus Rogan, chairman.

The director general of the association, Regina Breheny, said that Ireland was out performing its European peers but was not getting the credit itdeserves.

“The Wall Street Journal did an extensive report on venture capital in Sweden. It has a population of 9.5m and received about €108m in 2012.

“France received €140m. I was gobsmacked because Ireland was larger than all of them.

“To get an idea €260m in Ireland and that level has continued through the recession” she said.

Ms Breheny said that the climate created by the government and the level of seed funding that is available to companies has resulted in a strong pipeline of companies ripe for investment.

“There has never been as good a time to be an entrepreneur,” she said.

The strong performance of the Irish venture capital sector looks set to continue with a number of companies already securing large funding rounds.

Cubic telecoms have secured €4.0m and Feed Henry have secured €10m in funding.

The sector is on target to keep Ireland as one of the largest recipients of venture capital in Europe.