FRONTLINE LAUNCHES €60M FUND FOR EARLY STARTUPS - Dublin-based tech investment firm Frontline Ventures has announced a new €60m fund dedicated to backing early-stage business software startups.
Company directors say that they will use the money to invest in eight to 10 early-stage software startups every year for the next four years. It is the second major round raised by Frontline. A €50m fund raised by the company in 2013 was invested in 27 Irish and UK startups. Frontline typically invests between €200,000 and €3m in early stage 'B2B' software companies, says the Irish Independent. It has a nine-year cycle for the fund and typically looks to exit individual investments within six years, according to Will Prendergast, a partner at the firm. The firm has already begun investing from the new fund, taking part in a €1m round to back Galway-based data firm Siren Solutions. Other investors in the NUIG spin-off startup include Enterprise Ireland, Atlantic Bridge and the Western Development Commission. "Our first fund has shown us that some of the world's most ambitious founders are right here," said Mr Prendergast. "With this new fund, Frontline is positioned to be the investment partner of choice for ambitious software entrepreneurs building out from Europe to the US."
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FUNDS WILL BE ABLE TO BUY TROUBLED HOMES LOANS FOR LEASEBACK - Private finance houses will be able to bulk-buy the mortgages of struggling families and lease the properties back to the State, under a new plan to be rolled out by the Government.
The move from Minister for Housing Simon Coveney marks a significant expansion of the "mortgage-to-rent" scheme which has been so far hampered with poor take-up. The new plan will see increased involvement from private finance houses who will lease the properties back to the State. Families then become the State's tenants with a guaranteed 20-year lease and an option for a further 20 years. It is understood there will be another option for families to buy back their homes at the market rate any time they choose, says the Irish Times. Sources said it is hoped thousands of households will take up the revamped offer. Since the existing scheme’s introduction, only 217 homes have gone through the process, with a further 635 "reaching conclusion". The existing scheme has been criticised because it meant holders of distressed mortgages were dealt with on a one-on-one basis, and was not attractive for private finance to become involved. The current scheme is administered by housing bodies and county councils only. The new approach will be initially rolled out on a trial basis by Mr Coveney and Damien English, the Minister of State in the Department of Housing.
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STATE MAY HAVE TO PAY EXTRA €10m TO SAVE CORK EVENT CENTRE - The Government could be asked to cough up another €10m in State funding to save the stalled Cork event centre project from collapse, writes the Irish Examiner.
More than two years after the Government sanctioned a €20m funding package to kickstart construction of the proposed 6,000-seat venue, and almost a year after the sod-turning ceremony, Housing Minister Simon Coveney conceded more state funding will be needed before a brick is laid. "I think this will require an increase in state support, and within reason, that can be forthcoming," he said. "I think it does represent value for money to increase the Government’s commitment to the project. But I am not willing to go back to the Government to ask for more money until I have clarity in terms of what the ask is, and independent verification of that. It’s my job to advocate for that, but it will be up to the Department of Public Expenditure to go through the value-for-money assessments," he added. It is the latest controversy to hit the project which has been dogged by delays. The news comes just days before the first anniversary of the sod turning ceremony by Taoiseach Enda Kenny on the former Beamish and Crawford site. While some demolition has taken place on-site, building work has yet to start.
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ABE SEEKS TO WIN OVER TRUMP WITH GIFTS OF 'TWEETABLE' INVESTMENT PLEDGES - Japan's government is pushing companies to hand over details of their US investment plans so Shinzo Abe can deliver a "tweetable" figure to Donald Trump when they meet this week.
Executives at three top Japanese companies said officials had been in touch asking for investment numbers. Public investment institutions say the prime minister is also leaning on them to pledge tens of billions of dollars to US infrastructure projects such as high-speed rail, says the Financial Times. Mr Abe's effort to bring gifts highlights his determination to forge a personal bond with the president. He aims to gain influence over US policy in Asia and blunt tensions over trade or the cost of keeping American forces in Japan. Mr Abe will arrive in the US on Friday, accompanied by his finance, foreign and trade ministers. After a summit in Washington, he will spend Saturday playing golf with Mr Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. "The most important thing is to reconfirm the importance of the US-Japan relationship in politics, economics and security," said Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of Japan’s Keidanren business federation.
