- €1 billion investment to be delivered by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) to support the next generation of Irish companies of scale
- Focus on sectors where Ireland has an embedded competitive advantage - tech, life sciences, business services, food/agri/marine and others
- Initiative will include €100m venture capital allocated to high-growth innovation-led businesses in sectors like AI, deep-tech and life-sciences
Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris TD, and Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD, have launched a €1 billion investment initiative aimed at helping create the next generation of Irish companies of scale.
The Fund will be administered by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which is part of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), and will run until 2030.
ISIF will invest through a range of channels including direct equity and debt investments in companies, partnerships with specialist fund managers, and other solutions aligned with ISIF’s long-term patient capital philosophy.
The initiative aims to ensure ambitious Irish businesses have access to capital to grow internationally while maintaining a significant presence in Ireland, contributing to the Irish economy’s long-term resilience and prosperity. It will focus on sectors where Ireland has potential to build globally competitive businesses – tech, life sciences, business services, food, and others.
ISIF has already backed over 500 Irish companies under its Scaling Businesses investment theme, and this initiative expands and accelerates that strategy. Recent direct investments in Irish businesses include Proverum (medical devices); Equal1 (quantum computing); Progress Systems (financial services software) and Cameramatics (fleet management).
The initiative is aligned with ISIF’s “double bottom line” mandate, and all investments will be made on a commercial basis in a manner designed to support economic activity and employment in Ireland.
€100m allocated to higher-risk, higher-return venture capital investments
The initiative includes a dedicated €100m allocation to venture capital-type investments in high-growth, innovation-led businesses. This will help support the next generation of success stories with the funding required to scale internationally in sectors like AI, deep-tech and life sciences.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris TD, said:
“I very much welcome ISIF’s €1bn investment initiative aimed at helping create the next generation of Irish companies of scale while delivering on its double bottom line mandate to create employment and growth.
Through this announcement ISIF continues to demonstrate its commitment to scaling Irish companies with ISIF having already backed over 500 Irish companies under its Scaling Businesses investment theme, and this programme will help expand and accelerate that strategy by providing access to capital to grow internationally while maintaining a significant presence in Ireland, contributing to the Irish economy’s long-term resilience and prosperity”.
The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD, said:
“Supporting Irish businesses to scale is a priority for this Government. Businesses need access to investment capital to grow and compete, yet many continue to face challenges securing the finance they need. ISIF's commitment to a €1 billion investment programme to help scale Irish enterprises to 2030 will help develop the next generation of Irish companies of scale, provide vital capital to the market, and strengthen investor confidence in the potential of Irish businesses. ISIF has a strong record in this area and is well placed to support our SMEs to scale globally, in close collaboration with Enterprise Ireland.”
Rebekah Brady, ISIF’s Interim Director, said:
“From our continuous engagement with the market, we know there’s a vibrant ecosystem of high-quality, ambitious businesses throughout Ireland that want to grow but need improved access to capital.
Given ISIF’s strong track record of supporting Irish businesses both directly and indirectly, including supporting 500 companies to date, we are uniquely positioned to offer a key source of capital to ambitious Irish companies within our double bottom line mandate.
We have the scale, the capacity and the risk appetite to selectively target suitable businesses, with investments throughout the risk spectrum.”
