Irish Venture Capital Investment Grew In 2003

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

01 July 2004

PricewaterhouseCooper's sixth annual report on technology investments in Europe has found that Investment by venture capitalists in Ireland increased by €406m last year.

According to the report, total investment in Ireland by venture capitalists amounted to Euros 535 million in 2003 compared to Euros 129 million in 2002, a significant proportion of which was being used to fund buy-outs.

The PwC study found that Irish VCs invested Euros 255 million in 2003 of which Euros 176 million was to fund buy-outs of 7 companies. However, excluding buy-out funding, investments had decreased by 25%, falling from Euros 105 million in 2002 to Euros 79 million last year

It also stated that technology companies got the main bulk of Irish investments (96%) while 83% of Irish investments went to computer related firms.

Funds raised in Ireland in 2003 totalled Euros 60 million compared to Euros 201 million in 2002, a decrease of 70% largely owing to the fact that none of the large Irish VCs did any fund raising in 2003.

Commenting on the report, Joe Tynan, Irish Partner for the PwC Global Technology Industry Group noted: “Interestingly, 95% of total funds invested by Irish VCs were in Irish companies compared to 76% in 2002. This, in addition to the Euros 293 million invested by foreign VCs, represents a significant commitment to Irish industry.”

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