Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 February 2023
68. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding allocated for the halo angel scheme under the Supplementary Estimate for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9147/23]
View answerThe Halo Business Angels Network is a joint initiative of Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland (ITI) and Invest NI and is operated by ITI. It helps companies raise new equity capital in the early stages of their development. It also represents an alternative source of investment to venture capital funding.
The term 'Business Angels' refers to high net worth individuals who invest on their own, or as part of a syndicate, in high growth businesses. In addition to capital, they often make their own skills, experience and contacts available to the company concerned to help it grow and develop. The individual amounts invested by Business Angels are usually in the range of €25,000 to €250,000, although syndicated deals (where a group of angels invest together) can be up to €1m.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment provides joint funding, alongside the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy, to ITI. My Department's budget allocation for ITI in 2023 is €11.586 million, of which €8.9 million is dedicated to capital funding to allow ITI to operate its supports.
ITI uses this funding from both Departments to operate a wide range of supports to help promote trade and business on an all-island and cross-border basis. ITI is responsible for managing its individual programmes and utilising its overall budget allocation towards its supports.
ITI’s budget for the Halo Business Angels Network in 2023 is €351k, which will be used to help promote the initiative and link investors with high growth firms.
