Irish firms raised €113m in second quarter – up 74% IVCA VenturePulse survey

Home Knowledge Irish firms raised €113m in second quarter – up 74% IVCA VenturePulse survey

Irish firms raised €113m in second quarter – up 74% IVCA VenturePulse survey

October 23, 2013

SMEs raised equity investment of €113m in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 74% on the same period in 2012 according to the Irish Venture Capital Association VenturePulse survey. Total funds raised in the first half of 2013 were €164.9m compared to €116.7m the same period last year, an increase of 41% according to the report, which is sponsored by law firm William Fry.

Commenting, Regina Breheny, director general of the IVCA said: “The Irish venture capital community continues to be the main source of funding for Irish innovative SMEs both through direct investment and as the local lead investor for international syndicate investors. Since the onset of the credit crunch in 2008, approximately 800 Irish SMEs raised venture capital of €1.7bn.”

Mark Horgan, chairman, IVCA added: “This is a tremendous performance and bodes well for the Irish economy especially when one considers that activity in international markets is still experiencing significant volatility, in the US second quarter numbers are down 9%.”

First round funding was 24% of funds raised compared to 15% in 2012. However, Stephen Keogh, a corporate partner in William Fry, which acted as legal advisers in over half of the funding rounds in the second quarter, added that the Irish Seed Funds, supported by the banking sector and Enterprise Ireland, are close to being fully invested. “These funds will need to be renewed if Irish entrepreneurs are to be supported as actively as in the last five years,” he said.

Summary:

FUNDS RAISED
The IVCA VenturePulse survey shows that Irish companies raised €112.8m from investors in Q2 2013, despite the continuing global credit crunch. This compares with funds raised of €64.6m in the same period of 2012. Total funds raised in H1 2013 is €164.9m compared to €116.7m in H1 2012, an increase of 41%.

SEED/EARLY STAGE
In Q2 2013 early stage companies raised seed capital of €26.9m (24% of funds raised). This compares with €9.6m (15% of funds raised) in Q2 2012. Total seed funds raised in H1 2013 is €34.2m (21% of total funds raised). This compares to €22.9m (19.6% of total funds raised) in the same period in 2012.