EIIS changes having a real impact — Elkstone
Summary
Elkstone, Irelands leading early-stage venture investor, is working to deliver on this.The law was changed recently so that individuals can more easily invest in an EIIS fund rather than in individual companies to avail of income tax breaks.With broad support from other stakeholders across the ecosystem, we advocated for the legislative change required to launch this fund, and we are now delivering on our promise to the government and the founder community that we would raise meaningful capital to invest in Irish early-stage companies, Merriman said.The wonderful thing is that from our wealth management business we know that allocating to venture as an asset class makes compelling sense and to be able to do so with the added benefit of tax relief is a terrific incentive for private individuals to do so.Doing it via a diversified fund is all the more compelling it reduces risk and provides a stronger case for attractive expected returns.EIIS is now more user friendly and the new legislation in particular means that one can invest in a fund like Elkstones, Merriman said.Venture is a high-risk space, one where any individual company you invest in could well lose money.Investing in a portfolio via our fund means that the winners should more than make up for the losers so that the overall portfolio delivers strong risk-adjusted returns on a blended basis better than public markets investing. Investments already in place for their EIIS fund include Allsorter, Danalto, and Output Sports which they believe have the potential to be high performers too.We have built up a strong presence in the market and are well regarded as an investor that brings both venture expertise and a global network to the table. With the macro backdrop, the money is going to be badly needed and the reasons we had for setting up this fund are even more compelling today than when we started.Elkstone will do its final close before year-end, with limited capacity currently available. Merriman said that there is always going to be market turbulence, but allocating money continuously to venture is a considered and smart move, within a broader investment portfolio, if you can afford to do it.With our fund you can do this in a way that has a real impact. You can invest in Irish entrepreneurs; make a difference; support Ireland Inc and achieve very healthy returns via a portfolio approach along with the added benefit of the tax relief.