Tirlán plans to invest €10 million in a new “investment platform” that aims to identify and scale “innovative agrifood-tech solutions”.
The Tirlán Nurture Fund, officially unveiled today (Wednesday, September 13) will primarily target early-stage “innovative and sustainable technology investments” with plans to make the initial investment in the first half of next year.
According to Jim Bergin, chief executive of the Kilkenny headquartered co-op, it sees the potential of investing and scaling start ups that “tap into Tirlán’s core strengths and will drive value in the food and nutritional science solutions area”.
Bergin said this could be through both innovative technologies and research and development in functional ingredients, food safety and traceability, packaging, animal health and sustainability.
“These activities will create additional value streams for our organisation, and will aim to improve, modernise and make more sustainable Irish and global food supply chains for the future,” he added.
Bergin said the launch of the new fund also signaled that Tirlán was committed to being at the “forefront of sustainable dairy and grains into the future”.
The co-op has detailed that the Tirlán Nurture Fund will make both direct and indirect investments into proven technologies seeking commercial scale, and established companies seeking to scale into new markets.
According to the chair of the co-op, John Murphy, it has a long track record of being at the forefront of innovation in Ireland.
“As part of our transition into full co-operative ownership, we highlighted the potential of the creation of an investment fund that would complement the Tirlán business.
“As industry leaders, Tirlán believes there is a significant opportunity for the development and adoption of disruptive technology solutions that contribute to increased efficiency, sustainability, and innovation for our farmers, our community, and our company that will transition us towards more sustainable, less resource-intensive food systems,” Murphy added.
In its latest set of financial results Tirlán reported a 36% jump in turnover to €3 billion for 2022 and also stated that it had made a €5.5 billion contribution to the Irish economy last year.