Apax Partners has invested $5 million (£3.5 million) in the Belfast-based group Integrated Silicon Systems. ISS develops semiconductor intellectual property for digital signal processing. This is Apax's second venture capital investment in Ireland.

It recently participated in the £10.4 million funding of ENBA, a Dublin-based start-up Internet financial services provider. Apax Partners provides private equity funding and corporate finance advisory services. It invests in information technology, telecoms, healthcare, media and speciality retailing sectors.