Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Equity Fund raises €26m for export-orientated start-ups

This is the eighth new fund supported by the Irish government through Enterprise Ireland’s Seed and Venture Capital Programme 2007-2012. It comprises an investment by Bank of Ireland of €17m, €8m from Enterprise Ireland and €1m by University of Limerick Foundation (ULF).

Richie Boucher, group chief executive of Bank of Ireland, said, “In the current economic climate, supporting new high potential start-ups, university spin outs and more developed companies is central to Ireland’s economic recovery and growth. This fund demonstrates our commitment and support to early stage companies with significant growth prospects.

“Equity finance is a key source of funding for companies at early and growth stages. This new fund will further strengthen our commitment to supporting indigenous Irish companies and adds to our extensive support of SMEs. The fund will target investments in the range of €100,000 and €500,000. This investment reinforces the bank’s position as one of Ireland’s leading providers of venture capital finance. Since 2000 Bank of Ireland has committed over €101m in venture capital to developing Irish companies.”

Niall Olden, managing partner of Kernel Capital, added, “The significance of this fund is that it addresses a gap in the market for investments of €500,000 and below. The fund will operate synergistically with our existing Bank of Ireland venture capital funds.”

Established in 2002, Kernel has €190m under management.

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