Venture capital firm Kernel Capital has begun the divestment programme for the VC fund it formed with financial services firm Bank of Ireland, the Irish Times has reported.
The two firms formed Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Fund in 2009 with €32m ($36m) of capital. It invests between €100,000 and €500,000 in startups in sectors including green technology, food and fintech, and also supports patent and patent pending projects at Irish universities.
Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Fund has exited Ireland-based medical device maker NeoSurgical as part of a $5.6m funding round provided by SAIG at a $21m valuation. The fund invested €500,000 in 2011 as part of a €1.6m round that also included Enterprise Ireland.
The fund has around 40 companies in its portfolio and will continue to invest, despite planning to exit 25% of the portfolio in the next year. Its only previous exit was from mobile app platform FeedHenry, which was acquired by software company Red Hat in September 2014 for $81m.