The founder of private market investment firm Elkstone, Alan Merriman, has stepped away from the role of chief executive after 15 years.
Former intercounty GAA player and Elkstone managing director for private clients, Joe Bergin has filled the position.
Founder and previous chief executive, Alan Merriman has run the company for 15 years but will now shift to executive director.
“The transition will now allow me to focus on what energises me most: scaling our venture portfolio companies, supporting Ireland’s venture ecosystem, and leveraging our diaspora network to bring more international capital to Ireland,” he said.
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Under Merriman’s leadership, the firm was best known for its venture investments in start-ups such as Flipdish, LetsGetChecked, Manna and Soapbox Labs.
A winner of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship with Galway in 2001, Bergin joined Elkstone in 2019 after working with Ulster Bank across its commercial real estate, corporate markets and SME teams.
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With Elkstone, he worked to establish the firm’s office in Galway, later moving to take up the role of director of business development. Before taking up the group chief executive position, Bergin was Elkstone’s head of private clients.
The new group chief executive said he is “honoured” to take up the position, noting that Elkstone is entering its “next phase”.
Bergin said the firm operates “effectively” in both real estate and its venture business, noting both sectors “offer significant long-term opportunities”.
His focus in the position of chief executive, he said, will be on “helping [to] bridge the gap between capital and delivery in Ireland’s housing and innovation markets, enabling investors access to unique opportunities”.
Coinciding with the change atop the company, Elkstone has also appointed two new board members in Eoghan Quigley and Margot Lyons.
Quigley is the president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and was previously an equity partner of Big Four accountancy firm KPMG. He sits on the Irish Strategic Investment Fund’s (ISIF) investment committee, which makes decisions on the management of the makes on the acquisition and sale of its assets. ISIF has invested in a number of Elkstone funds.
Lyons is the former chief risk officer of Ulster Bank in the Republic, also holding positions at Morgan Stanley, GE Financial Markets. A graduate of Dublin City University and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Lyons served on the boards of Trócaire and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).
Elkstone was cofounded in 2011 by Merriman, alongside Ruairí O’Neill and Ciarán McIntyre. Its first venture fund closed at €100 million, including investment from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.
The Irish Times reported in September that Elkstone’s second venture fund was seeking to raise at least €150 million and up to €200 million in a second venture fund.
