Mr. Nick Ashmore:

That success has been built up over a very long time. The original Enterprise Ireland seed and venture capital scheme happened in the early 1990s. For a long time, the Irish market was very much a domestic venture capital market with the occasional international fund coming in. Really, what Enterprise Ireland did was give confidence to other investors to invest in those domestic venture capital firms. From about 2010 onwards, however, ISIF's predecessor, the National Pensions Reserve Fund, alongside Enterprise Ireland, worked to start bringing international investors into the Irish market. We have continued to pursue that model ever since. We have a mix of strong domestic venture managers whom we back, often alongside Enterprise Ireland. Enterprise Ireland might come in first and then we might come in last in terms of the investors, or sometimes it is the other way around and we get in before Enterprise Ireland does. Between us, we are often able to provide a sense of quality around that manager that also helps them to attract funding from the European Investment Fund but then also from other limited partners, which are investors in venture funds.

In terms of the international context, international managers can often have an easier time raising funds. However, they may not wish to spend, or it may not be the first choice to spend, time in the Irish market. That is where we are able to seek out the best managers whom we can persuade to work with us. They are generally pretty high-quality managers. ISIF is seen as an attractive and long-term partner for those partners. We then do an investment with that fund on the basis that they will invest either at least as much as we have invested in the fund or more into the Irish market, but also, crucially, that they spend time or have a presence in the Irish market and become part of the ecosystem. That is, therefore, a really important element. We can have funds, but if we do not have an ecosystem, we do not have a market.