HomeIreland Startups10 promising Ireland-based startups to watch in 2021

10 promising Ireland-based startups to watch in 2021

Ireland, otherwise known as the ‘Emerald Isle’, is steeped in rich culture, including folklore, literature, music, nature and of course, local food and drink such as Guinness. In addition to its age-old traditions, the island is also a haven for modern-day entrepreneurs, affording a well-balanced double life between tradition and innovation.

Thanks to support from the Irish Government’s initiative ‘Enterprise Ireland’, a steadily growing venture capital firm and angel investor community, and a high ranking on the European Digital City Index, Ireland is currently a base for 80% of the world’s global tech companies such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, AirBnb, Eventbrite, Twitter and Amazon. With Brexit just behind us, Ireland is also presented with a series of new opportunities, as an English language hub, with continued access to the EU, potentially making it the preferred home for more than a few entrepreneurial gems in the coming months and years.

To build up this list, we scanned the horizon for Irish startups founded between 2017-2020, with fast-growing teams, having landed funding or showing promising signs in the past few months, among other criteria. Having completed this analysis, these are the Irish startups we’ll be watching in 2021:

Workvivo – This Cork-based startup provides companies with an internal communications platform designed to engage and connect with employees. As companies consider remote working as a permenant feature, Workvivo keeps employees connected and engaged. Founded in 2017, Workvivo landed €500K in funding in 2019, and then again in 2020 secured a round of around €13.2 million.

Space OS – Founded in 2017, this Irish startup has created a seamless tenant experience and management software. With a team of 30+, their product blends together resource bookings, payments, food ordering, and facility support. In September 2020, the team closed a round of €2.5 million, to continue making daily activities faster and more efficient.

Zipp Mobility – Founded in 2019 by 24-year-old Charlie Gleeson, Zipp is a dockless scooter startup. The team’s mission is to reduce congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, by providing affordable micro mobility alternatives. In 2020, the startup hit the news as it landed €300K seed funding (closed in June), and was approved for UK trials by the UK Department for Transport, as the UK began to legalise the use of e-scooters.

Vela Games startupVela Games – This Dublin-based independent development studio was founded in 2017, and aims to reinvent multiplayer games with engaging, collaborative experiences’. Why? The team highlights that the traditional win-lose structure breeds stress, and co-operation is the way forward. In December 2020 they released a sneak peek into some characters from their in-development multiplayer online co-op game, code-named Project-V, funded by its 2.5 million round closed in April 2020.

Tines – This Dublin-based startup is a security automation platform for modern businesses. Tines automates security teams’ repetitive work, allowing security analysts to design automation stories for even the most complex workflows. The result? More effective and efficient security teams. In 2019, the startup raised over €13 million, and having weathered to storm of 2020, have also been named one of the ’45 enterprise startups that will soar in 2021′ by Yahoo.

Manna Drone Delivery – Imagine ordering from a local shop, and expecting the goods within a 3-minute home delivery time. Founded in 2018, this Dublin-based startup has created a drone “in a box” service. It ensures a guaranteed 3-minute delivery time to households in suburban communities from every retailer and pharmacy in the neighbourhood. In 2020, the startup closed a seed round to reach more communities.

Accelerated Payments – This Dublin-based fintech startup enables instant access to cash from your invoices 24/7.  Founded in 2017, the company was designed to solve the problem of cash flow for businesses through a flexible and innovative invoice finance service. The team ia already at over 30 people, and in October 2020, the startup landed around €22.9 million.

Utmost – If your company works with lots of freelancers, this solution could be for you. Founded in 2017, Utmost’s software is deisgned for an extended workforce – from temporary workers to consultants, vendors, freelancers, contractors and more – to seamlessly and efficiently work together. In today’s work climate, this solution is more relevant than ever, with remote teams spread across multiple locations, and hiring potentially limited to part-time or freelance colleagues.

Altada – Cork-based startup Altada Technology Solutions has built an AI-driven data supply chain platform. Using indexing, data remediation and inference, the platform allows clients to make better decisions and deliver augmented customer experiences. In September 2020, the team landed around €1.3 in seed funding.

Provizio – Founded in 2019, Provizio has developsed an ‘accident prevention platform’. How does it work? It can perceive, predict, and prevent automotive accidents in real-time using proprietary long-range imaging sensors and AI on-the-edge. Headquartered in Limerick, Ireland, the startup landed around €5.1 million in 2020, to radically transform vehicle safety in the present and the future.

By the way: If you’re a corporate or investor looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition, check out our Startup Sourcing Service!

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Charlotte Tucker
Charlotte Tucker
Charlotte is the previous Editor at EU-Startups.com. She spends her time scouting the next big story, managing our contributor team, and getting excited about social impact ventures. She has previously worked as a Communications Consultant for number of European Commission funded startup projects.
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