Global technology investor Atlantic Bridge is rolling out a new €140m fund aimed at supporting European tech firms with global ambitions.

The fund, called Atlantic Bridge III, includes the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), Enterprise Ireland and the European Investment Fund among its participants. AIB has also come on board as a new Atlantic Bridge investor.

The Dublin-based fund will invest in up to 20 European companies, with investments already closing in seven companies. Atlantic Bridge III will focus on scaling Irish and European companies in high-growth enterprise technology sectors such as cloud, internet of things, and augmented and virtual reality software.

AIB is now the strategic banking partner across all of Atlantic Bridge’s funds. It is also the largest bank seed fund investor in Ireland, with commitments currently totalling €110m to eight funds.

Other investors in its Atlantic Bridge III fund include the commercial arm of the British Business Bank and a number of institutional pension funds.

In Association with

Indigenous

Atlantic Bridge is the largest indigenous Irish technology fund and the firm has offices in Dublin, London, Silicon Valley, Beijing and Hong Kong. It has thus far led investment of over €100m in Irish businesses, among them Swrve and Movidius.

Speaking about the new fund, Brian Long, managing partner of Atlantic Bridge, said that a number of pipeline investments have already been identified.

He added: “As a growth equity stage fund, Atlantic Bridge III will focus on taking companies with a solid and exciting business model to the next level, scaling them into key international markets like the US and China.”

Eugene O’Callaghan, director of the ISIF, said: “The Atlantic Bridge model of connecting Irish technology companies with key global markets makes it a key component of the funding landscape and we are excited to continue our partnership with Atlantic Bridge for Fund III, following the strong performance achieved by Fund II.”

Kevin Sherry, executive director at Enterprise Ireland, added: “Enterprise Ireland has been an investment partner with Atlantic Bridge since 2004 and during that time they have continued to achieve significant returns for companies and investors. We are pleased to be on board again as partners of Atlantic Bridge III.”

Photo: Brian Long (left), jobs minister Richard Bruton and Kevin Sherry. (Pic: Maxwells Photography)