Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 5 June 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Access to Finance for SMEs: Discussion with Dublin Business and Innovation Centre.

11:30 am

Mr. Alex Hobbs:

I am happy to do that.

The Guinness Enterprise Centre is providing key incubation space in Dublin.

In summary, Dublin BIC is a strong advocate for seed and start-up funding within the Irish market. This has provided a key pipeline of deal flow for later-stage venture capitalists and start-up companies. We would strongly encourage the continuation of seed fund support from Enterprise Ireland. In terms of the latest seed and venture fund initiative, the first €100 million has been approved for a number of VCs at the expansion stage. We would strongly urge that the remaining €75 million be devoted to supporting further seed funds within the market to maintain continuity.

I am happy to take questions now.