KPMG has today published its Venture Pulse second quarter 2019 report which tracks venture capital (VC) activity around the globe.
In Ireland, $120.9 million was raised over 14 deals, with the largest deals in the IT and healthcare sectors.
The report shows that personal health testing company LetsGetChecked raised $30 million to scale the manufacture and sale of its diagnostic products in the US and internationally. Irish life science technology business Avectas raised $10 million, in a round led by leading pharma investor Seamus Mulligan. IT companies Immedis, whose logo will have been spotted on recent British Open winner, Shane Lowry, raised $29.1m. UBiqube Solutions, the global software supplier and Glofox, which provides boutique fitness and gym management software raised $23.3 million and $10 million respectively.
Findings show that overall venture capital investment globally held steady in the second quarter of 2019, reaching $52.7 billion. US and European investment remained relatively robust, however, investment in Asia was weak for the second consecutive quarter, reaching only $10.1 billion as Chinese mega deals continued a pause in activity.
Heading into the third quarter 2019, the report predicts the trend towards a smaller number of late stage deals is expected to continue globally, which could affect the ability of some high-quality early stage companies to attract funding.
AI is likely to buck this trend given its almost unlimited potential to cause industry disruption – and the significant amount of attention it is being given by corporate investors. As well, the outlook for IPOs in the US remains quite positive.
In Ireland, it is hoped that further IPO activity will be seen in the second half of 2019, with Uniphar kick-starting third quarter with the first IPO of 2019 on the Euronext Dublin exchange recently.
Speaking about the report, Partner and Fintech Lead at KPMG in Ireland, Anna Scally said, "It’s not surprising that the largest deals closing in Ireland over the last quarter were in the healthcare and IT sectors. We are global leaders in these areas and it is great to see quality Irish companies attracting investment from both domestic and international investors."
She added, "Ireland continues to be a great location for Irish companies to build global businesses. It also continues to be the location of choice for foreign companies looking to expand into Europe and for those companies concerned about the impact of Brexit on their business. We’ve seen a lot of activity this year, from TD Securities and Reddit opening new offices, to mobile and cloud software company Deem announcing plans to open their European Innovation Centre in Dublin."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
