From left: Bank of Ireland head of SME Jillian Clarkin, partner at Delta Partners Amy Neale, and Enterprise Ireland CEO Leo Clancy. Image: Julien Behal Photography
The VC plans to invest in 30 companies over the next few years, with Bank of Ireland and Enterprise Ireland as the fund’s cornerstone investors.
Dublin-based venture capital firm Delta Partners is launching a new fund with a target close of €70m to back early-stage technology businesses in Ireland.
The Delta team plans to invest in 30 of Ireland’s most innovative and exciting start-ups over the next three to four years, with a focus on seed-stage investment – where it will be the first institutional investor – and the Series A stage where companies require funds for scaling.
The fund has reached a first close with Bank of Ireland and Enterprise Ireland as cornerstone investors, supported by Fexco and several family offices. Delta plans to add new investors to the fund over the next year, to reach the target amount of €70m.
Commenting on the new fund, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, TD, said: “We are constantly looking at ways we can back Irish businesses, especially at an early stage when raising finance is often the most difficult.
“This fund will be a €70m pot of money, supported by the Government through Enterprise Ireland, for seed and early-stage technology businesses working on ideas that will create the jobs of the future.”
Delta is also expanding its team with two new partners. Amy Neale is joining from Mastercard, where she was a senior VP leading innovation teams focused on fintech across the globe. Also joining is Richard Barnwell, the founder of Digit Games, which was an investee of Delta Partners before being acquired by Scopely.
“Great Irish entrepreneurs are succeeding across the technology spectrum and the main thing they lack is capital to help them to achieve their ambitions,” Delta partners Dermot Berkery and Maurice Roche said. “Our two new partners, Amy and Richard, bring incredible skillsets to help these entrepreneurs along their journeys.”
Delta Partners has invested in more than 120 companies to date. Its portfolio includes machine learning start-up Peroptyx, Dublin-based health-tech company FoodMarble and proptech start-up Offr.
Earlier this week, Dublin-based investment firm Elkstone also launched a new fund to boost Irish businesses. Its €100m fund will target high-potential Irish start-ups in the seed and pre-Series A stages.
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