Prominent US investment bank Hambrecht & Quist is in the early stages of establishing a $50 million (€47 million) venture capital fund for Irish technology companies, writes Madeleine Lyons, in Boston.

It will be aimed at firms seeking several rounds of capital amounting to between $5 million and $10 million each and with the ultimate goal of a stock exchange listing.

The bank, which acted as underwriter for Apple, Saville Systems and Parametrics when they were seeking stock market listings, is expected to base the model on a similar fund it launched in Israel nine months ago.

An outline of its plans emerged at the third annual Technology Investment and Partnering Opportunities conference in Boston this week, where 17 Irish companies vied for the attention of US venture capitalists and investment bankers.