New venture funds for Northern Ireland

Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson , today officially launched a new £8million suite of initiatives to support start-ups and early stage businesses in Northern Ireland.

Fully funded by Invest Northern Ireland, the NISPO initiative includes a £5million venture capital fund which will focus on seed and early stage businesses which have high growth potential. Investments by the fund will typically be in the £50,000 to £250,000 deal size range. A £3million proof of concept fund has also been established to provide funding to very early, non university projects. An important element of the initiative is an “Enterprise Escalator” to assist promoters move from research to readiness for commercial funding and early stage capital.

Following a competitive tender process, ESynergy, a London-based firm has been selected to manage the NISPO suite of funds and services on behalf of Invest NI.