Financial data and research firm PitchBook, today reported that €100 million was invested by venture capital (VC) firms in Irish women founders in 2023. The report also stated that Ireland is the 3rd country in Europe per deal count on a per capita basis for investment in women-led start-ups and has consistently ranked in the top 5 countries for the past 10 years. The findings were published in PitchBook’s inaugural ‘All In: Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem’ report, a pan-European analysis of VC investment in women founders.
The report coincides with the start of a new programme ‘Road to VC Investment‘, which is the result of a new partnership between Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA), to support women-led start-ups to access finance. Launched ahead of International Women’s Day, the initiative will focus on increasing the amount of venture capital invested in women-led businesses in Ireland.
The ‘Road to VC investment’ is the third such partnership between Enterprise Ireland and the IVCA. This year’s series of initiatives will take place over a number of months and includes webinars on tax governance and legal issues, as well as an equity and pitching workshop, and an opportunity to further develop pitching skills and to receive feedback from members of Ireland’s VC ecosystem and mentors.
Speaking on the announcement, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, Minister of State for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance, said: “Ireland has made gains, increasing investment levels in women-led start-ups and this is reflected in PitchBook’s report today. However, I look forward to when we don’t have to work specifically on supporting women founders – when women-led companies are achieving the same level of investment as men. Encouraging more women to establish their own companies is key to this.
A kick-off webinar will be hosted later this month for innovative women-led companies, supported by Enterprise Ireland, that are actively seeking to raise investment for their scaling journey and are interested in learning more about participating in the ‘Road to VC Investment’ programme.
(Source: Enterprise-Ireland.com)
