Irish tech strong in Q1

Investment in Irish technology firms in Q1 2005 was up €75m on the previous quarter, according to research undertaken by Ion Equity’s Techpulse survey. Techpulse shows there is a move towards larger deals and the involvement of international investors in the Irish venture capital market has become more pronounced with Intel Capital, Apax Partners, Cisco Systems, Amadeus Capital Partners and Polaris Ventures all participating.

Three companies, namely Corvil, Aepona and Irish Broadband, each raised more than €15m in Q1, whereas only one company managed this throughout 2004.

Ulric Kenny, director of Ion Equity, said: “The market continues to be strong and we expect another good period of fund raising in the second quarter.”