Tech firms hit by drop in funding

JUST OVER €100 million in funding has been raised by Irish technology firms in the first half of 2010, new figures from the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA) show.

This represents an 8 per cent drop on the same period last year, when close to €111 million was raised by Irish companies.

The year-on-year fall is mainly attributable to a weak first quarter which saw Irish firms raise €26.6 million – half the €53.4 million raised in the first quarter of 2009. The level of funding increased sharply in the second quarter of 2010, with Irish technology companies raising €76 million from investors in the second quarter – an increase of 33 per cent on the €57.2 million raised in the second quarter of 2009.

The IVCA’s Regina Breheny said the poor performance in the first quarter was due to the slow completion times of deals, rather than any underlying slowdown.

She added that 2009 was “a peak year and . . . we are unlikely to see the same level of deals in 2010”.

A breakdown of the data shows that tidal energy company Openhydro raised the largest amount in the quarter, sourcing €15 million in investment from One51, Emera, Enterprise Ireland and private investors.

LED lighting company Nualight sourced €8.3 million from a group of investors including Climate Change, ESB Novus Modus, and private investors.

Telecoms software outfit Aepona raised €7.5 million in funding from Blackberry, Amadeus, Polaris, Innovacom, Nordic, and Sutter Hill. Fifty high-tech companies raised money in the second quarter of 2010 compared to 35 in the same period last year, the figures show.