Pires Investment (PIRI ), a holding company focused on next-generation technology, said it will invest in the new venture capital fund Sure Valley Ventures III Limited Partnership (SVV3) alongside Enterprise Ireland.
Enterprise Ireland is the cornerstone investor in the fund, which plans to invest in approx.imately15 high-growth AI software companies in sectors including enterprise, immersive technologies, and cybersecurity across the Republic of Ireland.
The SVV3 Fund has received commitments of €30m at first close, of which Enterprise Ireland has committed 50% or €15m. Pires initially invested €54k, and now expects to up its investment to €5m over the 10-year life of the fund. This would currently provide Pires with a 16.7% interest in the fund.
Pires' initial investment was made from its existing cash reserves. Going forward, Pires listed several funding options, including realisations from its existing investment portfolio, the exercise of outstanding warrants, as well as access to debt and equity capital markets.
Nicholas Lee, Director of Pires, commented: "The technology sector experienced a challenging 2022 and so, consequently, there are a number of interesting investment opportunities becoming available at attractive valuations. The Directors therefore believe that this is an ideal time to invest in a new technology focused fund, able to make new investments, given the completion of the SVV1 Fund's investment cycle for making new investments.
The significant commitment by Enterprise Ireland is a further endorsement of the SVV team and follows on from the support for the team demonstrated by the British Business Bank with the launch of the SVV2 Fund."
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SVV3 follows from the SVV1 and SVV2 venture capital funds, managed by Sure Valley Venture. Pires has approximately 20% interest in SVV1, which has now completed its initial investment phase and achieved three liquidity events, namely the sale of Artomatix and listings of Engage XR and Smarttech247 Group on the LSE. More events are expected in the near term. Sure Valley Venture also successfully launched the £85m SVV2 technology fund, backed by the British Business Bank.
Based on the success of SVV1 and SVV2, Pires' investment in the AI-focused SVV3 is appropriate for its high-growth portfolio and should yield more liquidity events from disruptive tech companies, with the added flexibility of a publicly traded vehicle. The €15m investment already made by Enterprise Ireland constitutes further endorsement of the fund and derisking of Pires' investment.
As mentioned, Pires has a number of funding options for its ongoing investment into SVV3. At the end of 2022, Pires raised £1.24m from a 2-year debt facility. Further liquidity events from SVV1 should also provide future funding.
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