The 10-month long programme will equip participating companies with an in-depth understanding of all sources of finance available to them and most importantly, the ability to determine which is most suited to their needs. Taking part in IPOready will give founders and entrepreneurs the skillsets required to get their business investment ready, refine their investment pitch for investors and form a valuable network of peers, advisors and investors.
This is Euronext Dublin’s third IPOready programme, supported by Enterprise Ireland and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). It builds on the success of last year's programme, from which 12 high-growth, high-potential Irish companies graduated. Since commencing the programme these graduates have raised over €200m in funding, which included monies raised by Atlantic Therapeutics, Finance Ireland and Devenish Nutrition. This year, for the first time, IPOready participants in the Technology sector will have the opportunity to join Euronext’s TechShare1 programme and network with European entrepreneurs.
Joe Barrett, COO & Co-Founder of Applegreen who was a speaker at this morning’s event said: “I presented at both of the previous IPOready programmes and would recommend it to every company seeking strategic finance to scale their business. Our listing on Euronext Dublin has been an enabler for us to finance the acceleration in the growth of our business over the past number of years, while at the same time providing liquidity for founding shareholders and the ability to reward employees through share option plans.”
Peter Cosgrove CEO of ATA group and a previous IPOready participant said: “We were thrilled to participate in the IPOready programme. In addition to the expertise and mentorship we received, the network we built up and the understanding of strategic finance options that we acquired, has proved to be invaluable as we continue to scale our business. For any ambitious Irish company that is considering raising capital attending this programme is a must.”
Orla O'Gorman, Head of Listings at Euronext Dublin, welcomed interested companies at the launch event, saying “I’m delighted to welcome so many ambitious companies to the launch of IPOready today. Previous graduates of this programme have benefitted enormously from their participation, acquiring the necessary skills to determine which funding option is the right one for their business and how to engage with the investment community. This year is particularly exciting for us, as participating technology companies will be invited to join other scaling pan-European technology companies at Euronext’s renowned Techshare programme”.
The programme - which was launched in Dublin today and has additional launch events in Cork and Galway next week - offers mentoring from experienced fund raising experts, leaders of Euronext Dublin listed companies, senior Euronext executives, corporate finance experts, entrepreneurs, investment practitioners, legal, communications and investor relations advisers.
To apply download an application form from www.euronext.com/ipoready and send it to ipoready@euronext.com by 14 June.
