Business angels plough €700,000 into Dublin start-up

A Dublin-based sports nutrition group has secured €700,000 in a funding round, with a large part of the investment coming from a newly-formed group of investors that is focused on food-related businesses.

Elivar, which was founded by Donal Hanrahan and Len Dunne two years ago, has developed a range of nutrition goods tailored for the over-35 age group. Much of the secured funding will be used to support the ongoing development of its products and an expansion across Europe.

The company is already operating in the UK and Ireland and exports to Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands. It intends to take on a further ten employees by the end of 2015 in the areas of food science, production, ecommerce, marketing and finance.

A group comprising of 15 investors, and known as the HBAN Food Syndicate, was among those to invest in the company. Enterprise Ireland also participated in the funding round.

“While our initial funding was required to bring Elivar to market, the HBAN Food Syndicate investment also provides us with the active support of some of Ireland’s leading food entrepreneurs. In the long term it is their combined experience which will help us develop Elivar to its fullest potential, as a successful Irish food company operating in a global market place,” said Hanrahhan.

The HBAN Food Syndicate is part of the Halo Business Angel Network, an all-island umbrella group responsible for the development of business angel syndicates on the island of Ireland.

" The syndicate chose Elivar as our first investment as its founders really impressed us. They had clearly researched their market and the growth potential for this business. The clear niche they have identified in the expanding over 35's sports market shows the innovative nature of this product and we see this as a long-term sustainable market," said Alison Cowzer, managing director of The Company of Food and a founding member of the HBAN Food Syndicate.