The Economic Advisory Group (EAG) published a review of Access to Finance in March 2013, which included 13 recommendations. The majority of these related to bank finance and have been taken forward by the Access to Finance Implementation panel. However, one of the recommendations stated that “DETI should commission further research on the future strategy for Venture Capital/Equity Finance in Northern Ireland.”
To deliver on the EAG recommendation, DETI Analytical Services Unit (ASU) appointed SQW Ltd to research “Early Stage and Growth Finance in Northern Ireland” in March 2014 as part of its Research Agenda 2012-15. The project was jointly funded by DETI and Invest NI, and was completed in March 2015.
The synthesis report and technical reports are available for download below:
Future of Early Stage and Growth Finance in NI - synthesis report