Two members of rock band U2 (pictured) have backed a new tech fund called Impact Ireland that intends to raise €100m fund that will invest in technology companies in the republic.
Adam Clayton (pictured, far left) and David Howell Evans, known as the “the Edge” (pictured, left) of U2 have taken part in the first round of fundraising that raised more than €20m last month. The fund is currently doing a second round of fundraising. Dublin-based VentureWave Capital is behind the Impact Ireland fund.
It is expected to take strategic stakes in about 15 Irish companies with high-growth and scaling potential.
“We are delighted to launch Impact Ireland with its focus on supporting highly scalable companies which benefit society from one of the best investment global locations there is, Ireland,” said Kieran McLoughlin, the managing partner for VentureWave.
The fund will be a combination of a venture capital fund and a private equity fund. Venture capital funds typically invest in early-stage startups while private equity funds invest in relatively mature companies.
Impact Ireland fund intends to invest between €1 and €25 million in young firms, and will focus on cloud-based technologies in sectors like food, agriculture, education, healthcare, energy, and environment.
Former Ireland taoiseach Enda Kenny, who chairs the fund’s Global Advisory Council, said: “It will be a powerful corps of advocates for developing the next generation of successful Irish businesses and accelerating the impact that they will have.”
The Impact Ireland find is the first Irish fund to sign the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation’s Operating Principles for Impact Measurement, that measures the social impact of investments. ESG (or environmental social and governance) investing has been gaining a lot of popularity globally, and this type of investing hit $30trn in 2018 and analysts expect it to reach $50trn over the next two decades.
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