The new director general of the Irish Venture Capital Association, Sarah-Jane Larkin. Image: IVCA
The IVCA has a new director general, vowing to help accelerate local tech firms to global stage.
A new director general has been appointed to lead the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA). Sarah-Jane Larkin replaces Regina Breheny, who has taken up another role in financial services.
Peter Sandys, chair of the IVCA, commented: “We are delighted to attract someone of the calibre of Sarah-Jane to replace Regina who, over 14 years, has contributed hugely [to] the growth of the venture capital business in Ireland. The IVCA would like to put on record our thanks and appreciation of Regina’s contribution.”
Larkin, previously commercial director of pharma giant MSD in Ireland, has worked at director level in the healthcare and medical device sectors for more than a decade at organisations such as Johnson & Johnson, Sisk Healthcare, and the Irish Medical and Surgical Trade Association.
A graduate of University College Dublin, Larkin holds an MBA from Smurfit Business School.
Scaling up indigenous tech players
The IVCA is the representative organisation for VC firms in Ireland.
Since the onset of the credit crunch in 2008, more than 1,450 Irish SMEs raised VC of €3.6bn. The majority of this investment came from Irish VC fund managers who, during this period, supported the creation of up to 20,000 jobs, attracted more than €1.6bn of capital into Ireland, and geared up the State’s investment through the Seed and Venture Capital Programme by almost 16 times.
Commenting on her new appointment, Larkin said that now is the time to help local tech firms scale up.
“At a time of huge global change, it is more important than ever for Ireland to accelerate the development of indigenous high-potential companies, and the IVCA has a critical role to play in this.”
