The first half of 2021 saw continued strong growth in venture
capital investment across a broad spectrum of business sectors and
deal sizes, according to the Irish Venture Capital Association's latest
VenturePulse survey, published in
association with William Fry.
Venture capital funding to Irish technology firms increased by 7.6%
on the same period in 2020 to almost ?400m, a record number on
previous years, as reported by Irish Venture Capital
Association's recent VenturePulse survey, published yesterday
in association with William Fry. The figures show that the
half year figure is up 8% year on year to ?641m.
"A feature of the results is that international funding,
mostly from the US, rose to 70% of the total in the first half, up
55% on the same period last year," commented Nicola
McClafferty, chairperson, Irish Venture Capital Association.
"This is a strong endorsement of the high quality of Irish
tech companies and reflects a global interest in
them."
Notably, although the amount raised is at a record high, there was
a fall of 47% in the value of deals in the ?1-?5m range, in Q2 and
a 42% drop in the number of deals.
Notwithstanding global interest, McClafferty commented on the
cyclical nature of international investment stating "when
the tide goes out we will be unable to replicate these funds. We
should be looking now to increase the supply of funding from
domestic non-traditional VC investors such as pension funds,
private investors and corporates as is happening across the UK and
other European countries." McClafferty has urged the
Government as part of Budget 2022 to establish a working group to
advise on how best to implement this.
Mark Quealy, Corporate / M&A partner at William Fry,
commented: "These most recent VenturePulse figures
confirm the continuing trend of strong international equity
investment in Irish businesses, particularly those in
export-focused sectors such as life sciences, software and
fintech. However, the figures also serve as a reminder of the
need to ensure that domestic institutional investment in these key
areas is maintained and indeed increased, so that Irish
entrepreneurs and management teams continue to be supported as they
develop and scale their global business offerings."
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