We can scarcely believe that one month has passed since the launch of the Government’s €90m Irish Innovation Seed Fund, a gamechanger for the Irish start-up community, which we were honoured to host here at Tangent on Wednesday 9th February 2022.

The fund was launched by Tánaiste and Minister for Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD, Minister Paschal Donohoe TD, European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice President Christian Kettel Thomsen, European Investment Fund (EIF) CEO Alain Godard, and Enterprise Ireland CEO Leo Clancy.

This fund is a transformative development for the Irish start-up community; by investing in several underlying venture funds, the Irish Innovation Seed Fund Programme will provide vital capital to innovative Irish companies at the crucial seed stage and will be an important step in advancing the Irish equity ecosystem.

Launching the programme, the Tánaiste said:

"This is about backing Irish entrepreneurs and their ideas at an early stage, giving them a much-needed boost from the beginning. We’re looking for companies working in a number of areas we’ve identified as strategic opportunities for Ireland but have traditionally struggled in attracting early-stage investment, including Lifesciences, Healthcare and Pharma and those working to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. One of my three priorities as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is to get to the point where we’ve 2.5 million people at work in Ireland by 2024, which would be the highest level of employment we’ve ever had in the country. This Fund is an important part of that, we have to reward those creating the jobs of the future and help them reach the next stage of development."

 He continued: "I’m particularly pleased to see that there will be a focus on women-led enterprises. We’ve traditionally seen a deficit in funding go to start-ups with female leadership teams and I think we need to correct that imbalance."

Fund managers are invited to submit their investment proposals here via the European Investment Fund website.