A new survey has found that Venture capital investment into Irish tech firms in the second quarter this year hit a record €392m.
The Irish Venture Capital Association VenturePulse survey in association with William Fry was published on Sunday.
Findings from the survey showed that Irish tech firms in the second quarter this year hit a record €392m, up 7.6% on the same period in 2020.
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The survey also reports a record half year to €641m, up 8% from €593m in 2020.
One of the features of these results is that international funding, mostly from the US, rose to 70% of the total in the first half of the year, up 55% on the same period last year.
Commenting on the report, Nicola McClafferty, chairperson at Irish Venture Capital Association said: “This is a strong endorsement of the high quality of Irish tech companies and reflects a global interest in them.”
Sarah-Jane Larkin, director general at Irish Venture Capital Association, said that funding for the half year had increased across all deal sizes with the exception of those in the €5-€10m range which fell by 10% to €77.7m.
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Deals below €1m, largely from investment in earlier stage companies, rose by 22% in the first half to €26.2m. The number of deals rose by 16% to 64.
Reflecting a trend across Europe there were significant increases in larger investments in the second quarter. Deals over €30m were up 34% to €185m as a result of investments in life sciences diagnostics company, Let’s Get Checked which raised €123m and fintech company Wayflyer which raised €62m.
Life science comapnies were the top fundraisers in the first half of 2021 at 43%, followed by Software (20%); Fintech (12%); ICT (6%) and Deep tech, or companies founded on a scientific discovery, (4%).
Source: Written from press release.
