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Through the Impact Ireland fund, VentureWave Capital aims to invest in up to 15 ‘tech for good’ start-ups.
VentureWave Capital has announced that it closed the first round of its new Impact Ireland fund, which aims to invest in and build global ‘technology for good’ companies from Ireland.
The fund will take strategic stakes in up to 15 high growth potential and scaling Irish start-ups, with the venture capital firm investing between €1m and €25m per company. The fund is targeting cloud-based technology companies in sectors including education, healthcare, food and agriculture, energy and the environment.
According to VentureWave Capital, the fund will adhere to the principles of ‘impact investing’, which are designed to generate a return for society as well as investors. Impact investing is growing worldwide in recognition of the role and responsibility of business in meeting key social and environmental challenges.
The Impact Ireland fund
The fund is a member of the Global Impact Investing Network and is the first Irish signatory of the International Finance Corporation’s Operating Principles for Impact Measurement, which aim to set the standard by which the social benefit of impact investments will be gauged.
VentureWave Capital is headed by chair Alan Foy and managing partner Kieran McLoughlin, with a team of founding partners, executives and special advisers. The team has experience in sales, operating, technology, finance, fundraising and entrepreneurial skills.
McLoughlin said: “We are in active dialogue with a number of prospective pipeline investment companies and are confident of building great companies from Ireland with global scale and ambition.”
Investors in the fund include entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and philanthropists from Ireland’s diaspora and at home. According to the Irish Times, U2 band members Adam Clayton and the Edge are backers of the VentureWave fund.
The fund seeks to tap into this network of expertise through a global advisory council, chaired by former Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The council will work with the investment professionals in VentureWave Capital in promoting Ireland as an international location for innovation and investment.
Kenny commented: “I am very pleased to chair Impact Ireland’s global advisory council. It will be a powerful corps of advocates for developing the next generation of successful Irish businesses and accelerating the impact that they will have.”
