SVB Financial : Silicon Valley Bank commits an additional $100M to Irish innovation sector

• Silicon Valley Bank to continue to collaborate with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund
• Director of Irish Business Development has been appointed by SVB Financial Group and a Dublin office will be established this year to further support the initiative
• 15 Irish companies have benefitted from original $100m commitment since July 2012

DUBLIN, 11 May 2016 -Silicon Valley Bank, the bank of the world's most innovative businesses and their investors, today announced a continued collaborative relationship with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, aimed at supporting the technology economy in Ireland.

In June 2012, Silicon Valley Bankannounced plans to commit $100m over five years to support Ireland's innovation sector in collaboration with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund's predecessor, the National Pensions Reserve Fund. So far, 15 Irish companies have benefited from the commitment, including Accuris, Boxever, Clavis Insight, Movidius and Profitero.

Silicon Valley Bankexpects to deploy an additional $100 million of new lending commitments to fast-growing Irish technology and life science businesses over the next five years, from its operations in the US and UK, subject to its standard lending criteria.

As part of their collaborative relationship, Silicon Valley Bank lends to Irish technology companies and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund helps it to identify potential lending clients in these niche sectors and also invests in funds managed by SVB Capital.

Silicon Valley Bank's parent company, SVB Financial Group, has established a presence in Ireland with the appointment of Clive Lennox, who has moved from London to Dublin as Director of Irish Business Development.

Commenting on the initiative, Phil Cox, President of EMEA and Head of Silicon Valley Bank's UK Branch, today said:'We're pleased to have met so many fantastic entrepreneurs in Ireland over the last four years, and are looking forward to expanding our relationships with Irish innovators with this new financial commitment. We'd like to thank the Irish government and particularly the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund for their support, collaboration and proactive approach to building the innovation economy locally.'

Eugene O'Callaghan, Director of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, said:'Ireland's emerging and high-growth technology and life sciences companies have enormous potential but lending to them requires a real understanding of their life cycle, business model and financing requirements. Silicon Valley Bank has shown it can apply its specialist lending expertise and relationships to a critical gap in the Irish market and we look forward to seeing more Irish companies benefit from their dedication to the Irish market over the next five years.'

Garry Maroney, CEO, Clavis Insight:'Silicon Valley Bank understands the needs of companies like Clavis Insight. Working with them enabled us to access financing to rapidly build global capacity and maintain our market leadership positon, as we further develop our next generation eCommerce-channel analytics solutions for consumer products manufacturers.'

Jimmy Martin, CEO of AMCS Group:'Ireland has so much potential to continue to mature as a powerhouse of innovation, but what every business needs to in order to grow is access to capital. This new pledge to our nation means that more businesses can benefit from Silicon Valley Bank's support, as we at AMCS have done.'

Dave O'Flanagan, CEO of Boxever:'This year we accessed debt funding from Silicon Valley Bank which will help enable Boxever to create up to 100 high-value technical roles in Ireland. The team at SVB quickly understood our business model and thought creatively about what we were seeking to achieve with our series B round - it's a great working relationship.'

Editor's note

Silicon Valley Bank has committed funds to 15 Irish businesses, including: AMCS, Amplience, Accuris, Boxever, Clavis Insight, Diona, Fieldaware, Lincor, Logentries, Movidius and Profitero.

About SVB Financial Group

For more than 30 years, SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB) and its subsidiaries have helped innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB Financial Group's businesses, including Silicon Valley Bank, offer commercial and private banking, asset management, private wealth management, brokerage and investment services, funds management and business valuation services to companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity and venture capital, and premium wine industries. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, SVB Financial Group operates in centers of innovation around the world. Learn more at svb.com.

Banking services are provided by Silicon Valley Bank, a member of the FDIC. SVB Financial Group and Silicon Valley Bank are members of the Federal Reserve System. Silicon Valley Bank is not licensed in Ireland to undertake banking business in Ireland or to undertake any other regulated activity in Ireland.

SVB Financial Group UK Ltd is registered in England and Wales at Alphabeta, 14-18 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1BR, UK under No. 5572575.SVB Financial Group and its subsidiary Silicon Valley Bank are members of the Federal Reserve System and Silicon Valley Bank is a member of the FDIC.

About the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (€7.9 billion at end 2015) has a statutory mandate to invest on a commercial basis in a manner designed to support economic activity and employment in Ireland. The Fund has made investment commitments to date of €2.2 billion (including investments made by its predecessor, the National Pensions Reserve Fund) and plans to deploy the remainder of its resources over the coming years as suitable investment opportunities are identified.

Contact:
Tabitha Brear
SVB Financial Group

+44 (0)20 7367 8131
tbrear@svb.com