Gavin Doherty, Investment Executive with Western Development Commission will visit CoLab on 26th November
The WDC is pleased to announce the appointment of a new investment executive with special responsibility for the North West .Gavin Doherty is an experienced corporate finance professional and chartered accountant. Prior to taking up the position of Investment Executive with the WDC, Gavin worked as a corporate finance manager with Grant Thornton and a financial advisor to various government departments with the NTMA.
The WDC Investment Fund has to date invested over €55 million in 166 SMEs, Micro and Social/Community Enterprises in the region with over 5,000 people employed directly and indirectly in portfolio companies. This investment has leveraged an additional €250m for these portfolio
companies and a realised acquisition value of over €500 million. Recent investments/lending include Atrian Medical in Galway, Lough Gill Brewery in Sligo and Cerebreon Technologies in Donegal.
The WDC Investment Fund has also invested in three accelerator programmes which have supported 40 pre-seed companies across the ICT, MedTech, and AgTech sectors. Due to the success of its Evergreen Strategy the WDC now has significant funds to reinvest in enterprises in the Western Region.
Speaking on the appointment, Western Development Commission CEO Tomás Ó Síocháin said; The North-West Region is one of the organisations key focus areas. Since the launch of our strategy ‘Work Smarter, Live Better’ last March we have taken on a number of new staff members to ensure we are delivering on our commitments. Gavin has the right breadth and scope of experience for this important role and I believe he will be a significant asset to us in working to engage with businesses and communities in the North West.”
The new investment executive is looking forward to taking up the role. “I’m delighted and looking forward to beginning the all-important engagement with SMEs and communities. The investment fund can help drive job creation and support enterprise resilience in the North West.”
The WDC Investment team will be at the CoLab in Letterkenny IT on Tuesday 26th November from 10am to 4pm
If you believe your business or community project may fit the WDC investment or lending criteria, please get in touch with Gavin to make an appointment on gavindoherty@wdc.ie or visit www.wdc.ie/wdc-investment-fund
For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact
Allan Mulrooney, Head of Communications
allanmulrooney@wdc.ie or +353 87 334 3713
ABOUT THE WDC
- The WDC is a State agency established under statute to foster and promote the economic and social development of the Western Region (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway and Clare).
- The work of the Western Development Commissionfocuses on investment, lending, regional development and policy analysis.
- ieoffers an overview of business activity and life in the Western Region including an up to date jobs platform.
- The WDC is leading on The Atlantic Economic Corridor initiative. The AEC is an initiative to attract investment, support job creation and improve the quality of life in the West from Kerry to Donegal. This includes the Enterprise Hubs Project which is a 3-year project to create an interconnected community network from the 101 hubs identified as either operating or in development, in the AEC region.
About the investment Fund
- The SME Investment Fund provides both equity investment and loan finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across a range of sectors.
- The Community Loan fund provides term loans and bridge finance to community projects and social enterprises in the Western Region.
- The Creative Industries Micro-Loan Fund is open to sole traders, partnerships, businesses, co-operatives and groups operating in the creative industries sector, and provides loan finance ranging from €5,000 to €25,000.
- The Western Region Audio-visual Producers Fund (WRAP) is a Regional Fund committed to strategic investment to support film, television, animation and games.
