A total of 55 high growth potential Northern Ireland companies have been matched with investors at a showcase event in Belfast.
Catalyst, the not-for-profit organisation which fosters tech companies in the province and which organised the event, said its Inbound Investors event saw 60 venture capital firms attend from across the UK and Ireland, including Ananda Impact Ventures, Mercia Asset Management, Outward VC, BGF and Concept Ventures.
They heard pitches from companies looking for investment ranging from £250,000 up to £5 million from a range of sectors. Some of the Northern Ireland companies who took part in the event included StimOxyGen, Cumulus Neuroscience, Plaswire Ltd, Automated Intelligence and Ubloqity.
“In order to see tech and innovative companies in Northern Ireland, we need to tap into the wide array of funding available in the UK, Ireland and beyond,” Kieran Dalton, Head of Scaling at Catalyst, said. “The more deals done by non-NI funders, the easier it will be to get others to take notice and invest too.
“This is why Inbound Investors is so important. It provides local companies with the opportunity to connect with investors and build meaningful relationships. Catalyst helps to maintain these funder relationships and facilitate that crucial investment by understanding what they want and don’t want and matching them to the right NI companies.
“The event was a huge success and we are delighted with the results. We successfully matched 55 NI companies with suitable investors and provided a space where VCs in attendance could build relationships with budding entrepreneurs.”
Susan Nightingale from British Business Bank said the event has grown from just 17 investors in 2018 to 60 presently.
“The equity funding ecosystem in Northern Ireland is reasonably strong, however, it can be challenging for companies in scale-up mode to secure funding in excess of £1 million,” she said. “Inbound Investors is proving successful in terms of introducing innovative smaller businesses to non-Northern Ireland investors, which are increasingly seeing Northern Ireland as a great place to do business.”
