Enterprise Ireland paid €100m to the State as VC deals came good

Enterprise Ireland supports Irish firms in a range of sectors, from technology to food and life sciences, often relatively small scale but also including the likes of Philip O’Doherty’s E+I Engineering.

E+I was acquired last year by US firm Vertiv in a $2bn deal having previously received support from Enterprise Ireland, although the agency was not a shareholder.

The €100.1m was paid by Enterprise Ireland to the Exchequer in February this year and represented proceeds from transactions with client firms and investment funds in 2021.

The amounts typically invested by Enterprise Ireland for equity stakes range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of euro.

Enterprise Ireland, whose CEO is Leo Clancy, said the tally of €100m was generated from about 250 transactions in 2021 that included the sale or redemption of its direct equity investments, as well as loan notes in client companies, dividends and interest from those investments, proceeds from investments in seed and venture capital funds, as well as grant repayments.

However, given the scale of the return made to the Exchequer, the proceeds are almost certain to include windfalls from some big transactions.

Despite the pandemic, 2021 was the strongest year on record for net job creation by Enterprise Ireland client firms, at almost 12,000.

Earlier this year, the agency said that job creation in life sciences, business services and digital technology was particularly strong in the year.

Among the client companies creating jobs in 2021 was Limerick-based Kirby Engineering, which announced plans to hire 300 people.

Dublin-based pharmaceutical research and development firm APC said it planned to take on 120 more staff.

Enterprise Ireland-supported companies employed a total of almost 208,000 people during 2021. It invested more than €28m in Irish start-ups and supported over 125 start-up companies last year.

Enterprise Ireland’s annual report for 2021 has not yet been published.

Its 2020 annual report shows that its total income that year totalled more than €1bn.

Its income comprises mostly of government funding. The figure was boosted in 2020 by €652m for the restart grant scheme designed to help small businesses get back on their feet as the country struggled with the Covid crisis.

In 2020, it distributed €985m in financial supports to the Irish business community.