An €85 million venture capital fund aimed at high-tech firms was announced by Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe this morning.
The Atlantic Bridge II Fund, which is being supported by Enterprise Ireland's Seed and Venture Capital Programme 2007-2012, will focus on Irish and European high-tech firms with strong international growth prospects.
The fund will be managed by Atlantic Bridge Partners which has €250 million under investment.
Atlantic Bridge is expected to invest between €5 million and €20 million in each successful firm with a typical investment cycle of five to eight years.
The fund's backers are particularly interested in communications technology, semiconductor and software - sectors in which Atlantic Bridge already has a strong investment track record.
The fund is supported by leading institutional investors including Enterprise Ireland, European Investment Fund, Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund and a number of private investors.
Minister O'Keeffe described the new fund as a 'significant boost for Ireland's venture capital sector which is critical to developing scalable Irish firms'.
Atlantic Bridge general partner Brian Long said: 'We are very pleased to be among the few European technology funds that have achieved a first close in the past 18 months in a very challenging financing environment.
'We see a lot of attractive investment opportunities from multiple sources in Ireland and Europe - many of which fit with our investment thesis and are available at historically attractive valuation levels.'
The Government earmarked €175 million for the 2007-2012 fund which it launched in 2006 and has so far invested €158 million.
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