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.

11:40 am

Mr. Alex Hobbs:

Generally, if they are making progress, they go down the follow-on investment route. The objective is to upscale in regard to market presence internationally. Traditional funding does come into play, but there are other entities such as Silicon Valley Bank which provides venture lending. This might apply to companies in the process of expanding their customer base and making a certain level of sales. This funding backs working capital rather than investment in the market or product development.