Molten Ventures plc (LON:GROW, Euronext Dublin: GRW), a leading venture capital firm investing in and developing high-growth digital technology businesses, has announced the launch of its Irish focused fund, with investment from existing Molten shareholder Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (“ISIF”), to back high growth technology companies whose core activities, management and expertise are located in the Republic of Ireland.
This builds on Molten’s existing presence and strength in Ireland, where it has been active for over 10 years and where current portfolio companies Manna, Sweepr, &Open and Vaultree are based. Previous successful investments in Ireland include Movidius and Clavis Insights. The fund brings additional third party capital alongside Molten’s existing investment criteria and deployment plans, thereby unlocking further capital for the Irish market.
The first close of the new fund is €50m with the scope for this to increase with participation from an additional syndicated partner. Molten’s commitment as a 55.5% LP is €27.75m, with ISIF committing the remaining €22.25m. Two existing Irish portfolio investments of Molten will be transferred into the fund at their net asset value generating immediate cash proceeds of around £2.5m to Molten. The fund has a ten-year lifespan, with future investments expected to be made over a three year period subject to the existing Molten investment criteria.
In line with the Group’s stated strategy to build out third-party managed funds, the new fund will generate both management and performance-related fees for Molten through its role as manager, bringing an additional pool of capital alongside the plc balance sheet, EIS/VCT funds and syndicated Fund of Funds programme.
Martin Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Molten Ventures, commented:
“We have always been invested in the success of high-growth technology businesses in Ireland, which is a key European centre for the global technology industry. The launch of our new Irish focused fund continues our long-standing relationship with ISIF as a strategic partner and enables us to continue to back promising Irish technology companies and visionary founders inventing tomorrow. We look forward to updating you on the progress of our investments in due course.”
