Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last May, I announced a new call for expressions of interest under the €175 million Seed and Venture Capital Scheme 2013-18, which will see the continuation of the Government’s support for innovative Irish SMEs. The scheme is targeting an additional €525 million in funding from the private sector, which will mean a total fund of €700 million available for investment over the lifetime of the scheme.

This new Seed and Venture Scheme 2013-18 will proceed by way of a series of calls for partners to establish individual funds tailored to different sectors and strategies in line with Enterprise Ireland targeted areas. These are competitive calls and funding partners will be selected based on sectoral expertise, track record and supporting networks which they bring to the funds.

Venture capital schemes tend to have a ten year time horizon during which drawdowns of funds investing in high potential companies are rarely linear but become easier to forecast after the initial investments have been made. Different funds have different timelines depending on the release of calls for expressions of interest and come on stream as and when fund-raising is completed.

I am confident the venture capital funds will be fully utilised. This scheme builds on EI’s engagement with seed and venture capital which goes back almost two decades. It has been successful in assisting the growth of high potential start-ups, attracting leveraged funds, bringing top level managers to Ireland, and attracting interesting first-time international money to the Irish SME market.

Investments under the predecessor funds numbered 159 in 2012 with an investment of €81 million. This compares with 134 in 2011 when it was €60 million, and 107 in 2010 when it was €42 million. This is encouraging progress and justifies the commitment to this new scheme to sustain investment in enterprises with high growth potential.

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