Goodbodys plays part in assembling the optimists

One hundred venture capitalists (VCs) in a single room at the same time may sound like a specialised form of technology industry torture. Nonetheless, 30 Irish firms turned up to offer themselves to potential investors at Goodbody Stockbrokers' annual SummiT conference yesterday.

Bringing together what Goodbody's managing director Mr Roy Barrett described as "two groups of natural optimists, the VCs and the entrepreneurs", the event for the first time showcased several biotechnology and life sciences companies.

This new emphasis underlines increasing interest by investors in the biotechnology area, said Goodbody business development director Mr David Lowe. "By 2005, a third of VC fundraising in Ireland will be in life sciences," he said. The sector offered promising growth potential, particularly in areas such as medical devices, he added. Of eight life sciences firms at the conference, three were engaged in medical devices.

The State had maintained a relatively buoyant VC environment despite the downturn, he said. Some €400 million was invested last year in tech companies, down 5 per cent on 2000. But this compared with a drop of 60 per cent in investment in the US and 25 per cent in Europe, he said.

"We'd estimate there's €300 to €400 million to be invested this year," said Mr Lowe. Despite complaints from some start-ups in recent months that investment had dried up, he argued this was not the case, and that international funds in particular had pumped more cash into the Republic.

Benchmark Capital general partner and former Esat chief executive Mr Barry Moloney said a third of the €70 million spent so far in Benchmark's €750 million European fund had gone to Irish companies. Mr Moloney added that the State had the strengths of a strong technology base and an entrepreneurial spirit.