'More needs to be done' for start-ups despite €90m fund 

"I know it’s targeted towards key areas, but we haven’t really got a true view of the investment," said investment advisor with AwakenHub Denise McQuaid.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar at the launch of the Irish Innovation Seed Fund Programme.

The Government’s new €90m fund aimed at helping start-up companies has been welcomed, but business groups have warned it is only a partial solution and more still needs to be done.

AwakenHub, a social enterprise that supports female-founded start-ups, welcomed the launch, but believes a lot more needs to be done, especially for women entrepreneurs.

I fear that it may remain a very closed shop with the same people reviewing and executing the funds,” said investment advisor with AwakenHub Denise McQuaid.

Ms McQuaid added that there needs to be “fresh blood” when it comes to the allocation of funds for start-ups facing challenges in securing investment.

The fund is targeted towards start-ups that have historically found it difficult to attract early-stage investment. These sectors include life sciences, healthcare and pharma, fintech, technology, and digitalisation, food and agritech, sustainability and climate change, and women-led enterprises.

“We’ve traditionally seen a deficit in funding go to start-ups with female leadership teams, and I think we need to correct that imbalance,” said Enterprise Minister and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar while launching the fund.

Being female reduced the probability of a founder being allocated venture capital by 17%, according to a report released last year by Finland-based venture capital firm NGP Capital.

I’m not sure that it [the start-up fund] will truly fill the gap, if I’m honest with you,” said Ms McQuaid. 

"I know it’s targeted towards key areas, but we haven’t really got a true view of the investment."

The new fund, called the Irish Innovation Seed Fund Programme, is made up of individual €30m investments from the European Investment Fund, Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Enterprise, and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, which will seek to co-invest with a further €30m on selected investments.

“The Irish Innovation Seed Fund Programme initiative opens a new chapter of successful EIF co-operation in Ireland building on top of EIF financing of approximately €1bn over the last two years,” said CEO of the European Investment Fund, Alain Godard.

This fund is the same one as the Innovation Equity Fund, which was announced in last year’s budget, but has a new name and will be accepting proposals this week.