€37m raised in follow-on investment for NDRC backed ventures in 2014

NDRC announced today that it has surpassed its projections for 2014, with an additional € 37m of follow-on investment going into NDRC’s portfolio of companies during the past year. NDRC backed startup ventures have now cumulatively secured €88m in commercial follow-on investment from angel and VC investors and have a combined market capital value of approximately € 220m.

Companies incepted through NDRC have reported the creation of over 500 jobs to date (an increase of 200 jobs in 2014).

Among the companies in NDRC’s portfolio achieving significant success in 2014 were:

• Adama Innovations, the nanotechnology company which spun out of Trinity College Dublin secured € 600,000 in seed funding from a syndicate including Enterprise Ireland and Irrus Investments.

• Adaptics, trading as Drop, the first digital scale that hooks up with a recipe platform for baking, recently closed a funding round of $ 2m led by Frontline Ventures with Innovation Works, PCH International and WI Harper Group.

• NVMdurance, the inventor of flash optimisation software which extends the life of solid state storage disks based on research conducted at University of Limerick and Limerick IT, obtained funding of € 600k from a syndicate including ACT Venture Capital, New Venture Partners, Enterprise Ireland and NDRC.

• Pharmapod, developer of the award winning Global Reporting & Learning system for healthcare professionals enabling recording and analysis of medication errors and side effects, secured € 750,000 from investors including Enterprise Ireland, private investors, NDRC and the AIB Seed Capital Fund.

• Video Elephant, the commercial video marketplace recently secured $ 1 million in funding in a second round of investment led by ACT Venture Capital with Enterprise Ireland and Dublin Business Innovation Centre.

These companies sit alongside others in NDRC’s growing portfolio, many of whom are scaling in international markets including Boxever, FieldAware, LogEntries, Newswhip and Soundwave.

NDRC CEO, Ben Hurley commented: “This is an excellent outcome for the year where we continue to see significant market value being created by startup technology companies who are initially supported with our fusion of investment, mentoring and expertise.  As a capital investor in these firms, we’re attaining the strategic objectives of our fund to deliver returns through stimulating innovative businesses established by high calibre entrepreneurs. 

NDRC’s unique investment offering as first investor at the riskiest stage of company formation is delivering results for our funds and the Irish economy, as well as qualified deal flow for later stage investors. Looking forward to 2015, we will continue to refine our approach to ensure that we unearth, enable and invest in the very best technology startups, accelerating their potential to bring products to market and securing funding through our network of investors in Ireland and abroad.”