Venture Capital investment in Ireland grows

Investment by venture capitalists in Ireland increased by €406m last year, according to PricewaterhouseCooper's sixth annual report on technology investments in Europe.

Total investment in Ireland by venture capitalists amounted to €535m in 2003 compared to €129m in 2002.

Buyouts accounted for a significant part of the investments.

The report shows that Irish venture capital companies invested €255m in 2003. €176m of this funded buyouts of seven companies.

Excluding buyout funding, this shows a decrease of 25% in investments by Irish VCs, falling from €105m in 2002 to €79m in 2003.

It also says technology companies got the main bulk of Irish investments (96%) while 83% of Irish investments went to computer related firms.

PwC says that €60m in funds were raised in Ireland last year compared to €201m the previous year, a decrease of 70%.

This is due to the fact that none of the large Irish VC companies did any fundraising in 2003, according to the report.

Of the €535m total investment in Ireland, €293m came from foreign VCs.

Joe Tynan, Irish Partner for PwC's Global Technology Industry Group said: "95% of total funds invested by Irish VCs were in Irish companies compared to 76% in 2002.

"This, in addition to the €293m invested by foreign VCs, represents a significant commitment to Irish industry."