Just over $641 million was invested in 33 deals involving Irish companies during the three-month period.This is up from 24 deals in the previous quarter, which totaled over $125 million.

The second quarter set a new record high for investment levels, following previous highs of $517 million in the second quarter of 2018 and $515.5 million in the second quarter of 2019.

Three companies received over $100 million in funding each, which helped to raise the overall investment levels.

‘Lets Get Checked’ raised $150 million, TecgMet raised $120 million and GH Research raised $125 million.

The figures show that Irish health and biotech companies were of particular interest to investors, as were software and technology companies.

According to KPMG, earlier stage companies from a number of sectors in Ireland also secured modest investment in the period – but the big investments continue to go to the more established companies, which is a trend that we’ve been seeing for quite some time.

The lift in Irish VC investment was also echoed globally, where over $157 billion was raised across nearly 8,000 deals.

The increase in activity is credited to a robust IPO market, high valuations, and a seemingly endless supply of dry powder, according to the report.