Irish companies raise €391m in venture funding

Irish companies raised $462 million (€391 million) in venture funding in the first nine months of this year – broadly in line with the same period last year.

According to KPMG's venture pulse report, the average deal size in Ireland was larger than previous years with 81 companies being funded in the first three quarters compared to 103 at this point last year.

Some 11 companies raised $151 million, with student lender Future Finance raising $58 million and Cubic Telecom raising $47 million.

"By engaging in late-stage investment, Venture Capitalists (VCs) appear to be genuinely interested in building sustainable companies of scale. This is perhaps a change to the traditional model. It's quite an exciting shift as it is leading to a slate of larger, more sustainable VC-backed companies," said Anna Scally, KPMG partner in Ireland.

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Total venture capital investment globally reached $29 billion in the third quarter – the fourth highest quarterly total capital invested since 2010, according to KPMG. As was the trend in Ireland, the total number of deals dropped, reaching levels not seen since 2011.

In Europe, investors are said to be particularly selective with their funding options and are opting to back later-stage initiatives.

"The top four European deals during the third quarter combined for a total of more than $900 million, with $385 million to Deliveroo, $240 million to Prodigy Finance, $169.5 million to Sound Cloud, and $165 million to Tricentis," KPMG said.