The venture capital company Enterprise Equity (NI), which is funded by the International Fund for Ireland, has announced total investments of £2 million sterling for the 12 months to the end of September, an increase of 76 per cent over the previous year.

Among the companies receiving support were BCO Technologies, a west Belfast company making bonded silicon wafers, the healthcare company Molecules to Market, the engineering company Facility Design and Integration, and the Carrickfergus firm BFT Plastics.

Enterprise Equity invested in BCO along with two other venture capital funds, 3i plc, and ACT Venture Capital.

Enterprise Equity is also an investor, along with 3i, in the shirt and ladies swimwear manufacturer Sherman Cooper, where it backed a syndicated management buy-out in 1993.