Silicon Valley Bank, the 30-year old Californian Bank established specifically to provide debt finance for start-up and high-growth innovative companies, is to establish a business development office in Dublin and make available an additional $100m loan fund for Irish tech and life science companies in collaboration with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.

The bank established an initial $100m fund in 2012 and has since provided support to some of the country’s high-profile, high-growth companies such as Boxever, Clavis Insight and Movidius. Mid to long-term loans vary in size from $1m to $50m.

Earlier on Breakfast Business, Phil Cox of Silicon Valley Bank told Vincent Wall that he thought there was a special combination of factors promoting high growth companies in Ireland at the moment.

"I think the Irish Government needs to take a lot of credit for creating the right environment - they are very active in building a relationship with Silicon Valley, Sillicon Valley is very powerful. The Irish Government has been really effective in organising visits from the Valley to Ireland and vice versa," Mr Cox said.

He added that strong education and an entrepreneurial ethos have helped to create the conditions for innovation.