Government Launches €1/2bn VC Fund

€500 million Innovation Fund-Ireland Expected to Draw World's Top Venture Capitalists to Ireland.

Batt O'Keeffe TD, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, has said Innovation Fund-Ireland, launched in New York today by the Taoiseach, will for first time create a proper venture capital community here that will generate ‘smart' new jobs.

Believing the €500 million fund would support enterprise development and job creation by drawing top venture capitalists to Ireland, Minister O'Keeffe said: "The Innovation Fund-Ireland will attract leading international venture capital firms and experienced investment managers to Ireland where they will invest in innovation-intensive small and medium-sized firms and open doors to powerful networks of contacts and decision-makers."

He added: "Venture capital is relatively underdeveloped in Ireland so this is our opportunity to leverage the power of the global investor community and create high-quality Irish jobs in the process. The objective is to drive the creation of sustainable jobs in Ireland in the technology, life science, financial services, clean-tech and other sectors.

Ireland has a strong technical human capital base, significant public investment in research and development and a high concentration of major enterprises which now must be translated into more home-grown success stories.

To create a thriving high-value indigenous enterprise sector, we must expand the indigenous enterprise base, and we can do that by enabling entrepreneurs to co-invest with the Government in high-potential start-ups that can create "smart" jobs in key growth sectors of the economy."

The Minister then concluded: "As Minister for Enterprise Trade and Innovation, I will be working closely with the Taoiseach and Enterprise Ireland in driving the venture capital agenda as we take further steps to position Ireland as the global innovation hub."

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