AIB Seed Capital Fund invested €6.2m in 2012, more than 500 new jobs supported

9 Jan 2013

The AIB Seed Capital Fund in partnership with Enterprise Ireland made 31 investments totaling €6.2m during 2012, bringing to 500 the number of jobs created and sustained by the fund.

This brings to more than 100 the total investments made in 58 companies over the five years of the fund’s existence.

The AIB Seed Capital Fund’s investments are split 60/40 between Dublin City and county and the rest of Ireland.

Cumulative investments to end 2012 by the AIB Seed Capital Fund of more than €20m have leveraged in excess of €75m of additional capital from other investors, including Enterprise Ireland.

The 31 investments during 2012 included investments in a further 13 new start-up and early-stage companies.

New companies supported by the Fund during 2012 included Cloudium Systems in Limerick (hardware and software solutions for remote rich media applications), Meaning Mine (Polecat) in Dublin (virtual analyst software), Surgacoll Technologies in Cork (bone and cartilage tissue regeneration and repair products) and OmniMotion Technology in Dublin (motion-controlled games).

Among existing investees, multi-million euro follow-on rounds were completed by Swrve, Endeco Technologies, micksgarage.com, Async Technologies and Cambus Teoranta.

2012 strong year for new investment opportunities

“(The year) 2012 was another very strong year for new investment opportunities, and the trend whereby many young entrepreneurs were prepared to take on the challenge of building their own futures in indigenous enterprises through their skills and initiatives continued unabated,” the fund’s chairman Denis Marnane said.

“The AIB Seed Capital Fund is pleased to continue to play its part in supporting this growth. The demand for follow-on funding to allow these companies to develop and grow is significant, and the fund has the capacity and willingness to continue to support existing investee companies, which is a key component in early stage funding,” Marnane added.

The AIB Seed Capital Fund was established in 2007 under the Seed and Venture Capital Programme 2007-2012 as a joint venture between Enterprise Ireland and AIB Bank, who have jointly committed €53m to the fund.

The fund’s investments are jointly managed by Enterprise Equity Venture Capital Group and Dublin Business Innovation Centre.

Looking ahead Marnane said the AIB Seed Capital Fund expects the rate of investment to continue in 2013.

“The fund managers are currently seeking new investment opportunities across a wide range of sectors and are actively working with all relevant partners and agencies to achieve this goal,” Marnane said.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com