Dublin based early-stage venture capital firm Act Venture Capital has launched a new €140m fund that will back early-stage technology companies, its sixth such fund.
Act said that over 80% of the fund is already committed with the final closing planned for later this year.
This latest fund is an increase from Act's previous fund of €92m raised in 2016 and brings total capital raised by the firm to over €600m.
The new fund has a broad investor base built over multiple funds.
It combines institutional investors including European Investment Fund, Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Enterprise Ireland, and AIB, as well as a focused group of entrepreneurial family offices providing both valuable strategic support and co-investment capabilities.
Act said the majority of commitments come from investors in previous funds, showing their confidence in the team and the strategy.
The new fund will target investments into 35 companies across technology sectors and highlights areas of interest in AI/ML, Enterprise, Deep Tech, Health and Energy and Climate.
Act can invest up to €10m into any one company and it said its fund is positioned as a long-term partner to support founders from seed through several expansion rounds.
It also has the capacity to add significant additional co-investment through its institutional investors and extensive family office base.
Act's current portfolio comprises of 47 companies including Ekco, Gridbeyond, Cubic Telecom, Deciphex and Provizio.
The firm has had 20 exits in the last five years, including SilverCloud Health (bought by Amwell), Decawave (bought by Qorvo), Corvil (bought by Pico) and Ocrex (bought by Sage).
"The Irish market has doubled in size in the past four years, and we are excited about the future of Irish tech companies and the increasingly ambitious founders that are building them", said John Flynn, Managing Partner of Act Venture Capital.
"A feature of our maturing market has been the recycling of capital and talent from the increasing number of successful exits, and we are seeing very strong network effects from repeat entrepreneurs. This will see Ireland build larger and more impactful companies," he said,
"We will continue backing founders that have a mission and values that go beyond financials. Companies that prioritise their ESG impact have proven that, on top of making a positive change, they attract better talent and provide better returns for investors", added Debbie Rennick, managing partner of the company.
