Lir Investors making €1m available to Midlands start-ups

A business angels network set up by Mullingar businessman Martin Nally, Lir Investors, is on track to make more than €1m in funding available to start-up companies in the Midlands region.

The network already has 10 angels on board and is holding an launch evening on 3 October in the Mullingar Park Hotel to recruit potential entrepreneurs and match them with suitable investors.

John Teeling, founder of the Cooley Distillery, will chair the meeting and speakers on the night include Gerry Duffy, UK Deca–Enduroman Champion 2011, who has raised more than €500,000 for autism, and Diane Roberts, national director of the Halo Business Angels Network.

Attendees on the night will also hear from KidSpotter, a company that has benefited from its involvement with a business angels network.

Getting the Midlands out of the recession

Nally is former managing director of the Westmeath Examiner Group and is currently managing director of handyweb.ie and farmersforum.ie.

“Lir Investors was created to play a role in getting the Midlands out of the recession. That may sound like a bold statement, but I firmly believe that if we facilitate bringing investors and potential growth companies together that sustainable jobs will be created. This will be achieved through utilising the expertise and capital of the investors involved and building on the great business ideas of the entrepreneurs,” he said.

“We are particularly interested in any businesses that are suitable for the export industry. There are huge markets worldwide that are predominantly unaffected by the global downturn and if we can enable a Midlands company to move into export markets we are creating opportunities for long-term income and employment for the Midlands region.”