ENTERPRISE IRELAND’S Silicon Valley office is receiving eight times more calls from people in the region interested in establishing start-up companies in Ireland. This follows the announcement two months ago of its €10 million International Start-Up Fund.
The fund is aimed at encouraging entrepreneurs outside Ireland, particularly the Irish diaspora, to base new companies within the State. It was announced at the end of October by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton.
The fund particularly targets companies in the internet, games, cloud computing, medical technology and financial services sectors.
“We’ve been getting two calls a week about the new internet start-up fund,” said Nick Marmion, Enterprise Ireland’s west coast manager for software and service.
In the past, he said his office averaged a single discussion a month with someone who might be interested in establishing a start-up in Ireland.
The fund is available for “investor–ready” projects needing between €200,000 and €500,000 which will be supplied in the form of an equity investment from the State.
Enterprise Ireland is particularly seeking entrepreneurs in North America, Britain, Europe and Australia. It is establishing a panel of “international start-up ambassadors” comprising successful Irish entrepreneurs to highlight the fund abroad.
“We’re getting really interested people, as opposed to people who are just tyre kicking – Irish people who want to come back, international people, people from industries who are finding it too expensive to get coders in gaming or in security in the Valley,” said Mr Marmion.
He said the response since the announcement of the fund has been “quite interesting – people are approaching us who we never thought would be [interested]”.
He thinks a critical element of the fund is that Enterprise Ireland has set up a dedicated group to provide help specifically to external entrepreneurs.
“They need a different type of support,” he said. For example, specialised legal expertise may be required for entrepreneurs unfamiliar with the legal requirements for companies in the State.
The fund is open to entrepreneurs anywhere in the world, although Enterprise Ireland has indicated its priority will be the Irish diaspora; international expatriates; the “new diaspora” of people abroad who previously worked or studied in Ireland; and serial and mobile entrepreneurs.
Mr Marmion said the agency was working to vet applicants on the ground in Silicon Valley. Within the first few weeks of the fund’s launch, it had already had discussions with about half a dozen interested entrepreneurs.
“All of them so far have something there and would be a good fit for Ireland.” While he noted that many will not return for further discussion for many months, he said “there’s definitely a flow”.
