Enterprise Ireland launches fintech fund

Ireland’s state-owned economic development agency Enterprise Ireland has announced the launch of a €750,000 Competitive Start Fund for promising fintech startups.

The fund, which was announced at the agency’s Future of Fintech event in Dublin, will be directed to ventures using artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality, the internet of things, blockchain and the cloud.

It is not the first fintech fund to be formed by Enterprise Ireland, the first was launched in 2016, but it is the biggest so far and underlines Ireland’s ambitions to develop its fintech sector.

In 2016, fintech startups sponsored by Enterprise Ireland generated more than €1bn in revenue and in 2017 Enterprise Ireland claims it was one of the largest fintech investors in terms of deal count (23).

“With Ireland being the fourth-largest exporter of financial services in the world, developing and supporting the fintech sector is a national priority,” said Ireland’s Minister of State for Financial Services Michael D’Arcy, speaking at the Future of Fintech event.

The fund will be a central plank of the Department of Finance’s IFS2020 Action Plan, said D’Arcy referring to Ireland’s five year plan for its international financial services sector.

Applications for the fund will be received between 19 June and 3 July.