Falling investment into SMEs raises 'alarm bells' as four firms drive total funding

Four large deals drove the total investment into Irish firms. Software firm Ocuco secured €60m, life sciences company Shorla Oncology received €32m, environmental business UrbanVolt gained €26m and another life sciences company ProVerum secured €15m.

Sarah-Jane Larkin, Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA) director general and Denise Sidhu, IVCA chairperson. Pic: Fennell Photography.

Venture capitalist funding into small and medium sized Irish firms suffered a dramatic decline as investment continues to shrivel amid challenging economic conditions, a new survey showed.

VC funding into SMEs fell by just under 40% to €190m in the three months to September, compared to €309m in the same period a year earlier, according to the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA) in its Venture Pulse survey.