Irish tech firms raise record €817m in first nine months – Irish Venture Capital Association VenturePulse survey

Irish technology SMEs raised a record €817m for the nine months to end September 2017, according to the Irish Venture Capital Association VenturePulse survey published today in association with William Fry. This is an increase of 11% from 2016 when €734m was raised in the same period. Fundraising in the third quarter reached €319m.

“The third quarter was boosted by activity in Northern Ireland (NI),” commented Peter Sandys, chairman, IVCA. “Belfast fintech company Options accounted for 30% of total funds raised in this quarter. This is the largest fundraising deal in NI in over 10 years.”

He added, “Seed/early stage support is growing significantly again with €59m raised in the third quarter, reaching a high of €115.2m for the nine months to end September.” Growth/expansion funding represented 88% of total funds raised.

Regina Breheny, director general, IVCA, pointed to the value of strong international relationships. “The Irish venture capital community continues to be the main source of funding for Irish innovative SMEs both through direct investment and as the local lead investor for international syndicates.”

International syndicates invested €220m in the third quarter bringing the total for the nine months to end September 2017 to €475m or 58% of total funds raised. This compares to investment by international syndicates of €328m over nine months in 2016 and with €225m in 2015.

Regina Breheny added, “Since the onset of the credit crunch in 2008, more than 1,450 Irish SMEs raised venture capital of €3.6bn. These funds were raised almost exclusively by Irish VC fund managers who during this period supported the creation of up to 20,000 jobs; attracted over €1.6bn of capital into Ireland and geared up the State’s investment through the Seed & Venture Capital Programme by almost 16 times.”

FUNDS RAISED

The IVCA VenturePulse survey shows that Irish companies raised €318.6m from investors in Q3 2017.

Funds raised in the nine months to end September 2017 reached a high of €817.3m. This compares with funds raised of €734.3m in the same period in 2016, €415.1m in 2015, €314.4m in 2014 and €232.6m in 2013.

SEED/EARLY STAGE

In Q3 2017 early-stage companies raised seed/early stage capital of €58.7m (18% of funds raised) bringing the total for the nine months to end September 2017 to €115.5m (14% of funds raised). This compares with €57m (8% of funds raised) in the same period in 2016, with €25.5m (6% of funds raised) in 2015, with €17m (5% of funds raised) in 2014 and with €48.5m (21% of total funds raised) in 2013.