Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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205. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amount allocated to the seed and venture capital fund in each year since established; and the number of approved applicants. [44492/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Enterprise Ireland Seed and Venture Capital Scheme (SVC) has been in operation since 1994 and there have been four distinct programme periods. These are 1994-1999, 2000-2006, 2007-2012 and 2013-2018. Across the programme phases, Enterprise Ireland has committed approximately €510 million, which, using a co-investment model, has raised a total of €1.19 billion in seed and venture capital funding since 1994. All funds are independently managed by private sector fund managers who make the decisions regarding investments.

The SVC programme operates by allocating funding to Enterprise Ireland to support the venture capital sector. EI then issues calls for applications for funding from venture capital funds across the programme period. Funds which are successful in obtaining investment from EI are then required to raise the additional funding required to operate their fund from private capital sources or other public sources of capital. EI’s contribution to any single fund is capped at 50%. The funds supported by the SVC programme make their investment decisions on a commercial basis. EI invests on a pari-passu basis, meaning the EI’s investments are on the same terms as private investors in the fund. Also, important to note is the fact that the costs to the State of EI’s intervention in the venture capital sector are offset by any returns from the investments undertaken by supported funds.

The table below breaks down the total amounts that have been allocated by Enterprise Ireland under the 4 programme periods to date, the total amounts invested under the scheme which includes those leveraged from other investors and the number of companies assisted.

The information in this table is accurate for each scheme from establishment until 30th June 2018.

It is important to note that the 2013-2018 programme is still making investments and we expect the total investment to be significantly higher once the investment period is finished.