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 A €10m international start-up fund, aimed at encouraging overseas entrepreneurs to locate their businesses in Ireland, has been launched by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD.
While the fund will be open to company promoters all over the world, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation said it “will be targeted particularly at the Irish diaspora, international expatriates, the ‘new diaspora’ (people from overseas who have previously worked or studied in Ireland), as well as serial and mobile entrepreneurs”.
The fund, which will be administered by Enterprise Ireland, will target investor-ready projects seeking between €200,000 and €500,000. Its target geographies will include North America, the UK, Europe and Australia, while sectors will include internet, games, cloud computing, medtech and financial services.
Funding will be in the form of an equity stake taken by the State in the company.
The Department said Enterprise Ireland will be appointing a number of high profile, successful Irish entrepreneurs to act as international start-up ambassadors to help market the fund overseas. Dylan Collins, who has founded a number of online gaming companies, is one of the first to accept the role of fund ambassador.
Dylan Collins — fund ambassador
Collins described the fund as an excellent way to build on Ireland’s position as one of the leading start-up hubs in Europe. “If you’re in a start-up anywhere in the world which has international ambition, you need to come and talk to us right now,” he said.
“One key strand of our new industrial strategy will be to create a genuine indigenous engine of growth,” said Minister Bruton.
“As I have said before, our ambition must not only be to attract the next Google or Microsoft to Ireland, but we must also seek to grow the next Google or Microsoft in Ireland. Indigenous companies provide proportionally more than three times more benefit to the Irish economy than multinational companies.
“Across the world, many of the start-up companies which go on to succeed and create jobs are driven by people within a small class of mobile, innovative, serial entrepreneurs. What the Irish Government is saying very clearly is – come and start your company in Ireland, we are open for business, and we will support you."
Article courtesy of bizstartup.ie
Image caption: Dylan Collins- Fund Ambassador
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