Irish Venture Capital Association elects new chairman


22 Sep 2010

Peter Sandys, managing partner and co-founder of Seroba Kernel Life Sciences, has been elected chairman of the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA), succeeding John Tracey, CEO of TVC Holdings.

“For the first time, venture capital is at the heart of Government policy,” said Sandys.

“The focus on innovation has the potential to transform the Irish venture capital market and it is very exciting to be chairman of the association at this time.”

Sandys noted that there is about €800m of Irish VC funds available for investment over the next few years.

This figure doesn’t include the €500m Innovation Fund recently launched by the Taoiseach in New York.

He added that the history of the venture capital industry suggests that each Irish VC euro leverages a minimum of another euro from international VC investors, making the total figure available for investment at about €2bn.

Sandys is currently on the board of AGI Therapeutics and several international investment funds.

He has held numerous directorships in the fund management, technology and financial services industries.

Sandys was previously managing director of ABN Amro Corporate Finance in Ireland, where he was responsible for the firm’s capital markets and venture capital businesses.