Draper Esprit Raises €102 million
16th June 2016
Draper Esprit plc, the venture capital investor involved in the creation, funding and development of high-growth technology businesses has raised €102 million from its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on both the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) and the London Stock Exchange.
Founded in 2006, Draper Esprit focuses on long term investment (patient capital) in digital technologies and has invested over US$1 billion in more than 200 businesses in the UK, Ireland and throughout Europe. To date it has created businesses with a total aggregate value of over US$8 billion with an exited value of over US$6 billion. Its current investment portfolio spans 22 countries.
Key investors in Draper Esprit include the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, UK-based investment managers Woodford Investment Management and Baillie Gifford, and China Huarong International Holdings Limited.
It began trading today on the ISE’s Enterprise Securities Market with a market capitalisation of €161 million.
On their admission, Deirdre Somers, ISE Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to welcome a highly ambitious company like Draper Esprit, which in turn backs Europe’s most ambitious entrepreneurs in the digital and technology sectors, to the Enterprise Securities Market. It is exciting to see technology-focused companies return to capital markets to raise international funds. We wish the company every success as a publicly-quoted company.”
Draper Esprit is the 14th new company to list on the ISE since 2013. It will trade on the ESM using the ticker GRW.
(Pictured L-R: Orla O’Gorman Head of Equity, ISE and Brian Caulfield, Managing Director, Draper Esprit.)
