The agency believes a robust ecosystem which utilises the skills, ambition, and talent of a diverse population is vital to Ireland’s economic success.
As part of our work, we are committed to partnering with key stakeholders to drive better access to finance and funding for women at all stages on their enterprise journey, and this includes our ongoing collaboration with the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA).
Elle Sander (left) co-founder of Lifelet Medical
To support women-led businesses learn more about the venture capital (VC) ecosystem and the opportunities it can present in terms of funding to help business scale.
As part of this collaboration, Enterprise Ireland and the IVCA have delivered the ‘Road to VC Investment’ programme. The focus of this is to support female founders in preparing for the VC investment journey, with the aim of increasing the amount of VC invested in women-led businesses in Ireland.
The inaugural ‘All In: Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem’ report from financial and data research firm PitchBook earlier this year found that in terms of VC investment in women-led startups, Ireland is ranked third in Europe per deal count on a per capita basis.
It also noted that Ireland has consistently ranked in the top five countries in Europe for investment in female founders over the last 10 years. And it also found that VC firms invested €100m in Irish women-led startups in 2023.
Alison Liddy, CEO and co-founder of Relevium Medical
The third phase of the Enterprise Ireland and IVCA programme recently ended with a networking event in Dublin, and this year there were 30 participants, from firms across ICT, life sciences, fintech and more.
As part of a panel discussion led by IVCA Director General Sarah-Jane Larkin, entrepreneurs Elle Sander, co-founder of Lifelet Medical, and Alison Liddy, co-founder of Relevium Medical (who participated in this year’s programme) joined Denise Sidhu from Kernel Capital and Michael O’Dea of Enterprise Ireland to review lessons learned.
This was the third phase of the ‘Road to VC Investment’ programme with the IVCA, and since its first iteration there has been a significant increase in the number of women entrepreneurs participating, up from 10 in the first phase to 30 in the most recent.
An impressive number of previous participants have since successfully sought and secured significant funding – including 70pc of the 2022 cohort.
And some of the women-led companies that have been funded since taking part include Precision Sports, and Wellola, which has raised €4m to date.
VC firms invested €100m in Irish women-led startups in 2023
Key to the success of this programme is support from the VC community, and this most recent phase of the programme also saw an increase in the number of funders from the VC world participating and offering their support to entrepreneurs.
This year, some of the VCs on board included Helen McBreen, partner at Atlantic Bridge, Denise Sidhu, partner with Kernel Capital and Debbie Rennick, general partner at ACT Venture Capital.
Over the course of the programme, participants had the opportunity to engage in webinars (which included a focus on tax governance and legal considerations), mentoring and networking opportunities, and masterclasses – including one focused on pitching and investor panels.
This masterclass was supported by a number of key stakeholders from the VC ecosystem, including Amy Neale, general partner at Delta Partners, and Ellen McCance Pinschmidt, venture partner at Middlegame Ventures. Gerry Maguire, general partner at Atlantic Bridge, and David Bowles, managing partner, Yield Lab Europe, also supported this year’s programme.
While these leaders help to demystify the world of VC investment through workshops, taking part in panel discussions and attending networking events, they also help to smooth the path to getting such investment by mentoring and advising participants.
For any business, accessing capital is critical to ensure it can scale and grow, and Enterprise Ireland and the IVCA will continue to collaborate to support women entrepreneurs to navigate the funding landscape.
Anna-Marie Turley is department manager, Entrepreneurship & HPSU Operations, EI