Startups funded by Enterprise Ireland are showing off their wares at a Showcase in Dublin Castle, which is open to the public.

Orla Battersby of Enterprise Ireland said that four new venture capital funds, in which the agency is involved, have launched in recent weeks, namely funds organised by Seroba Lifesciences, Frontline Ventures, ACT Venture Capital and Suir Valley.

“These four new funds combined bring €188m of available new capital to the market, helping companies to reach out to global markets,” said Battersby. Our strategy for 2017-2020 is to support more startups using innovation as a key driver of competitive advantage to build scale and expand reach to global markets. As part of our mandate to develop and maintain an appropriate funding environment for early stage companies, Enterprise Ireland continues to help our companies start, innovate and scale.”

• Details on the EI Startup Showcase participants

The agency says it invested €32m in startups in 2016 and supported a total of 229 startup companies, the highest number to date in a single year. Investment was provided in the form of Competitive Start Funds (128) and High Potential Start-Up (101) funding.

In Association with

Over a quarter (28%) were female-led businesses, including 19 new HPSUs and 44 new CSF investment approvals – up from a total of 61 in 2015. Over half (53%) the startups supported during 2016 were in regions outside of Dublin.

Investment in seven new fintech HPSUs and a further 10 Fintech startups were supported under a dedicated CSF fund. Taxpayers also funded 33 startups established by overseas entrepreneurs who have moved to Ireland to establish their businesses.