€10m fund to target tech start-ups

ENTREPRENEURS IN areas such as cloud computing and online gaming are to be encouraged to set up in the Republic with the help of a €10 million Government fund.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton announced the fund yesterday. It will be administered by Enterprise Ireland and will be open to companies anywhere in the world. However, it is particularly targeted at the Irish diaspora, people who have previously worked or studied in Ireland, and serial entrepreneurs.

The fund targets “investor-ready” projects seeking between €200,000 and €500,000, and those applying must have matching funding. The funding provided will be in the form of an equity stake taken by the State in the company.

Enterprise Ireland has appointed “ambassadors” to help promote the project, including internet entrepreneur Dylan Collins.

Announcing the fund, Mr Bruton said the Government’s ambition was not just to stabilise the economy but to radically transform it. He said a strong, indigenous engine of growth needed to be created to drive that.

Mr Bruton said the ambition must not only be to attract the next Google or Microsoft to Ireland, but also to seek to grow the next Google or Microsoft in Ireland. “Indigenous companies provide proportionally more than three times more benefit to the Irish economy than multinational companies.”

He said the announcement of the fund was “a direct intervention by Government to create more start-up companies here”.

Mr Collins, executive chairman of Fight My Monster, said he and others had spent the past 10 years building companies here and helped to make the Republic one of the top hubs for internet start-ups, gaming start-ups and med-tech firms.

“If you’re in a start-up anywhere in the world with international ambition, you need to come and talk to us right now.”

Serial entrepreneur Louis Ravenet, chief executive of mobile and web-based developer 2PaperDolls, said he had been involved in the development of gaming firms for 15 years. He said his firm had chosen to relocate to Ireland from Paris earlier this year, even though it had been considering Amsterdam and London. Ireland, and Dublin specifically, provided a unique environment for entrepreneurs and was a “hotspot” for gaming activity, he said.

Enterprise Ireland chief executive Frank Ryan said: “Stimulating the flow of new high-potential start-ups and supporting their growth are fundamental building blocks in Enterprise Ireland’s strategy for economic growth and job creation.”