In its end of year review for 2012, the AIB Seed Capital Fund, an AIB / Enterprise Ireland partnership, has invested in a further 13 new start-up and early-stage companies. The jobs created within these new investees, together with employment growth in the existing portfolio companies, has brought to over 500 the number of jobs created and sustained by the Fund.
During 2012 the Fund made 31 investments totalling €6.2 million in new and existing investees. This brings to over 100 the total investments made in 58 Irish companies over the 5 years of its existence, further consolidating the Fund's position as the most active seed and early-stage fund in Ireland. The Fund's investments are split approximately 60/40 between Dublin city and county and the rest of Ireland.
Cumulative investments to end 2012 by the AIB Seed Capital Fund of over €20 million have leveraged in excess of €75 million of additional capital from other investors, including Enterprise Ireland.
New companies supported by the Fund during 2012 included Cloudium Systems in Limerick (hardware and software solutions for remote rich media applications), Meaning Mine (t/a Polecat) in Dublin (virtual analyst software), Surgacoll Technologies in Cork (bone and cartilage tissue regeneration and repair products) and OmniMotion Technology in Dublin (motion-controlled games). Among existing investees, multi-million euro follow-on rounds were completed by Swrve, Endeco Technologies, micksgarage.com, Async Technologies and Cambus Teoranta.
Commenting on the Fund's performance for 2012, the Fund's Chairman, Denis Marnane, said "2012 was another very strong year for new investment opportunities, and the trend whereby many young entrepreneurs were prepared to take on the challenge of building their own futures in indigenous enterprises through their skills and initiatives continued unabated. The AIB Seed Capital Fund is pleased to continue to play its part in supporting this growth. The demand for follow-on funding to allow these companies develop and grow is significant, and the Fund has the capacity and willingness to continue to support existing investee companies, which is a key component in early stage funding."
Looking ahead, the Chairman said 'The AIB Seed Capital Fund expects the rate of investment to continue in 2013. The Fund Managers are currently seeking new investment opportunities across a wide range of sectors and are actively working with all relevant partners and agencies to achieve this goal'.
The AIB Seed Capital Fund was established in 2007 under the Seed and Venture Capital Programme 2007 - 2012 as a joint venture between Enterprise Ireland and AIB Bank, who have jointly committed €53 million to the Fund. The fund's investments are jointly managed by Enterprise Equity Venture Capital Group and Dublin Business Innovation Centre.
Further information on the Fund's investees, and on the application process, can be found on the Fund's website www.aibseedcapitalfund.ie and on the websites of the investment managers, www.enterpriseequity.ie and www.dbic.ie.