Western Development Commission appoints Gavin Doherty as Investment Executive with special responsibility for the North West.

• Investment Executive with special responsibility for the North West, Gavin Doherty joins the WDC.
• The WDC Investment Fund will be holding a series of monthly clinics in Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo to outline funding supports available to businesses and community groups in the North West.

The WDC is pleased to announce the appointment of a new investment executive with special responsibility for the North West .Gavin Doherty is an experienced corporate finance professional and chartered accountant. Prior to taking up the position of Investment Executive with the WDC, Gavin worked as a corporate finance manager with Grant Thornton and a financial advisor to various government departments with the NTMA.

The WDC Investment Fund has to date invested over €55 million in 166 SMEs, Micro and Social/Community Enterprises in the region with over 5,000 people employed directly and indirectly in portfolio companies. This investment has leveraged an additional €250m for these portfolio
companies and a realised acquisition value of over €500 million. Recent investments/lending include Atrian Medical in Galway, Lough Gill Brewery in Sligo and Cerebreon Technologies in Donegal.

The WDC Investment Fund has also invested in three accelerator programmes which have supported 40 pre-seed companies across the ICT, MedTech, and AgTech sectors. Due to the success of its Evergreen Strategy the WDC now has significant funds to reinvest in enterprises in the Western Region.

Speaking on the appointment, Western Development Commission CEO Tomás Ó Síocháin said; The North-West Region is one of the organisations key focus areas. Since the launch of our strategy ‘Work Smarter, Live Better’ last March we have taken on a number of new staff members to ensure we are delivering on our commitments. Gavin has the right breadth and scope of experience for this important role and I believe he will be a significant asset to us in working to engage with businesses and communities in the North West.”

The new investment executive is looking forward to taking up the role. “I’m delighted and looking forward to beginning the all-important engagement with SMEs and communities. The investment fund can help drive job creation and support enterprise resilience in the North West.”

The WDC Investment team will be at IT Sligo on Monday 25th November in room G1031 from 10am to 4pm.  They will also be at the CoLab in Letterkenny IT on Tuesday 26th November from 10am to 4pm and The Hive, Carrick On Shannon on Friday 22nd November from 10am to 4pm.

If you believe your business or community project may fit the WDC investment or lending criteria, please get in touch with Gavin to make an appointment on gavindoherty@wdc.ie or visit www.wdc.ie/wdc-investment-fund