This fund, approved by the European Investment Fund, Enterprise Ireland and NTMA Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, will be used to seed and advise Irish early-stage breakthrough companies operating in sustainability and climate tech with sectoral focus on energy, agriculture, mobility, construction, smart consumerism, and resource management.
This comes at a time of climate and biodiversity crisis, when investment in climate and nature friendly, high impact, and innovative companies is crucial for sustainable development globally. With an ever-evolving technology development ecosystem to build from, Irish businesses can play a key role in carbon reduction. Therefore, cultivating and scaling sustainability startups is key to ensuring the rapid decarbonisation of the Irish and wider global economy, in compliance with legally-binding targets. Resolve Ventures will undertake rigorous assessment in developing a portfolio of decarbonisation solutions that are nature-positive, equitable, and aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Drawing from extensive expertise in the Irish tech startup landscape and the field of envirotech, David Scanlon and Alan Costello, partners with a wealth of experience, intend to not only provide investment but also foster and guide the ‘Venture Ecosystem’. Costello previously founded a professional services company in strategy and investment consultancy, working with funders, state agencies, international development bodies and private clients ranging from startups to multinational corporates. Scanlon has spent over a decade working for Enterprise Ireland in a variety of roles, including the innovative Start in Ireland programme, designed to attract HPSU companies from overseas to Ireland, and, most recently prior to founding Resolve, was part of the venture investment team at NDRC.
Aiming to engage in founder-friendly investment, Resolve Ventures will enable companies to grow and scale. This involves developing highly-tailored strategic relationships with corporate partners, offering top-tier scaling and impact guidance, and establishing a peer-support network within the portfolio, dubbed the Venture Ecosystem. This allows for a structured and managed process that connects both parties and supports scale-ups to drive new revenue. This has clearly emerged from Resolve Ventures’ direct experience of building pre-seed startups to the next investment stage over the past number of years. Aiming to assist major corporations in fostering entrepreneurship, Resolve Ventures will connect them with Irish technology firms that are in the process of scaling up – while having a positive impact on the environment.
Announcing the launch of the fund David Scanlon, managing partner of Resolve Ventures, said: “We are delighted with the significant amount of funding secured to date. At Resolve Ventures, we believe in investing in our future and doing our part in delivering the impact momentum necessary to attain the targets prescribed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through this fund, we hope to aid innovative tech solutions that will power the decarbonisation of our food, energy, transport, and consumption systems. This fund isn’t just beneficial for the environment we all live in, but it makes strong economic sense: governments, utilities, and multinational corporations will be required to invest and spend heavily on sustainability in the coming years in alignment with both the National Development Plan and Climate Action Plan. We are building a portfolio of startups to capitalize on this. Our mission is to cultivate our Venture Ecosystem, seizing this market opportunity, while making a meaningful impact on carbon reduction and the preservation of our planet for future generations.”
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney TD commented; “I am pleased to announce the second significant commitment of funding under the Irish Innovation Seed Fund Programme. This allocation to Resolve Ventures continues to reflect government’s recognition that if new companies are not supported at the seed and early stage, it creates an issue where there will not be enough scalable indigenous companies available later in the development lifecycle. That is why this allocation is such a positive initiative for the Irish market, with Enterprise Ireland investing alongside the EIF. It is government ambition that we want to create an ecosystem pipeline where we have Irish entrepreneurs building successful global businesses that are reflective of a focus on technology and innovation and providing high quality employment, which in turn strengthens the Irish owned exporting sector. This is a key deliverable in my department’s White Paper on Enterprise. I look forward to making further announcements regarding allocations of funding.”
Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath TD added; “I welcome this second allocation of funding from the €90 million Irish Innovation Seed Fund Programme, which was launched to provide greater access to early-stage funding for high innovation startups and SMEs. It is encouraging to see further progress being made in this collaboration between the European Investment Fund and Enterprise Ireland, with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund participating as a co-investor, with all three partners working together to support investment in innovative Irish and European companies. The government remains committed to further developing the Irish venture capital market and helping high-growth SMEs access funding to scale up and reach their full potential.”
