Sarah-Jane Larkin

The Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA) is the representative organisation for venture capital and private equity firms in Ireland. Our full members are venture capital and private equity firms that provide equity funding to growing unquoted companies. Associate members of the IVCA include firms that provide advisory services including corporate finance houses, commercial and intellectual property law firms, accountants and other advisers experienced in the venture capital field. IVCA members have invested over €2.5bn in Irish SMEs in the last three years €1.3bn directly and €1.2bn through international syndication. Research undertaken by Dublin City University at regular intervals over the last fifteen years highlights the outsize impact IVCA capital backed firms have on the Irish economy. The last cohort studied, contributed 40% of the indigenous SME spend on research and development in 2016. These companies grow both sales and employment on average 15 times faster than those in the wider SME economy. The affairs of the Association (IVCA) are managed by the Director General in conjunction with the IVCA Council. The IVCA Council consists of not less than six members who shall be elected in general meeting. The work of the IVCA consists primarily of representing the interests of the industry to regulators and standard setters; developing and promoting professional standards; conducting industry research and providing opportunities to facilitate interaction between the members and key industry participants including institutional investors, entrepreneurs, policy makers and academics.