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Enterprise Ireland has contributed to another regional venture capital fund with the launch of Kernel Capital Partners' new EUR25 million investment vehicle.
Kernel Capital Partners announced on Friday that it had launched the new VC fund, to which Enterprise Ireland has contributed EUR6.35 million in the first round, giving the fund a current valuation of EUR12.5 million. The new fund will be worth EUR25 million when fully subscribed to, Kernel said.
Kernel's new investment scheme will focus on early stage investments in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector as well as in life sciences companies. And while the new fund will look to invest in companies anywhere in Ireland, it will have a particular emphasis on the areas south of Dublin and Galway, Niall Olden, chief executive of Kernel Capital Partners explained to ElectricNews.Net
Kernel will look to inject cash of between EUR300,000 and EUR1.5 million into suitable young firms.
Olden said that he felt the VC market in Ireland was quite strong, which has created the gap in the market for start-up funding. Pointing to bigger VC companies like Trinity and Delta Partners, Olden said that as the more established funds acquire more money to invest, they begin to spend more on later stage companies, opening a gap for smaller funds that can invest in newer companies.
Olden also said that investment firms outside of Dublin account for almost 30 percent of Irish Venture Capital Association members' recent investments, which means that there are many opportunities for regionally based funds. "Just because a company is located out of Dublin doesn't mean there is any reason why it can't be extremely successful," he said. But he also said that although companies in Ireland are leaders in the development of new technologies, "the establishment of a culture of successful 'serial entrepreneurs' has yet to become a mainstream part of Irish corporate life."
The Tanaiste, Mary Harney, TD said the southern region in which Kernel would be operating is a strong one, with high-tech hot spots in places like the University of Limerick, UCC, the National Microelectronics Research Centre, and institutes of technology in Cork, Waterford and Tralee.
This fund, similar to one launched between AIB and Enterprise Ireland earlier in the week, is part of a broader plan for EI that will see the state controlled investment body invest EUR95 million into the venture capital market in Ireland over the next two years. There are to be 12 funds as part of this broader strategy, and eight of them are to focus on firms outside of Dublin. Over half of the money EI is investing will go to early stage companies.
The news also comes after details were announced for InterTradeIreland's all-island investment conference to be held later this month in order to encourage stronger links between investment communities throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic.
The conference, set to take place on 24 April, will bring together venture capitalists and financial advisors with businesses from the North and the South seeking private equity investment. It will include a range of speakers from the industry including Scott Malpass, the manager of Notre Dame University's USD3.5 billion financial assets, as well Chris Horn, co-founder of Iona Technologies and Dr. Martin Naughton, founder of Glen Dimplex group and chairman of InterTradeIreland.
More information on the conference is available at its Web site.
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