Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Dublin, intends to commit €75 million ($92 million) to China-Ireland Growth Technology Fund II that will target robotics and artificial intelligence, the €8 billion sovereign development fund said in a news release Friday.
The fund will be jointly seeded with CIC Capital Corp., which will invest additional €75 million in Chinese technology companies looking to access the European market via Ireland and Irish companies expanding into China. CIC Capital is the subsidiary of the $900 billion sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp., Beijing.
"We look forward to working with CIC Capital again on this new fund, which will offer a strong economic return to Ireland, as Chinese companies looking to gain access to Europe use Ireland as a base for their operations. The Irish companies that will benefit from the fund will gain from the opportunities to grow their business and product potential in the Chinese market," said Eugene O'Callaghan, director of ISIF, in a news release.
Atlantic Bridge Capital and WestSummit Capital were named managers of the fund. The fund succeeds the $100 million China Ireland Technology Growth Fund, which was launched in 2014 by the two entities.
A spokesman for ISIF could not be reached to provide additional details by press time.