Ireland, the nation of singers and storytellers, has an interesting tale to tell when it comes to innovation and startups.
The Emerald Isle is one of Europe’s leading tech hubs, home to disruptive early-stage startups as well as the European home of choice for globally-impactful corporations.
With an established tech market and an impressive talent pool, Dublin is one of the cities on the fast track to becoming a European startup capital. Ireland is a prominent EU member and also benefits from close connections to the UK and US markets. This is in addition to a convenient system of corporation tax, making it an attractive country to both launch and grow businesses.
it doesn’t come down to Irish luck, the nation is actively building a resilient name for itself in the global tech arena and its startup ecosystem is resilient. It attracts long-term foreign investment and both Irish governments and universities play a key role in propelling forward innovation.
2022 was a strong year for Ireland. It began the year with a new unicorn joining the ranks (Flipdish) and within the first 9 months of the year, the Irish tech startup scene topped €1 billion in VC investment. The largest deals in 2022 included: Wayflyer €134 million; Flipdish €94 million; TransferMate €66 million; Fonoa €62 million and Carrick Therapeutics – €60 million.
The top sectors raising funding in 2022 were Fintech (23% of total); Lifesciences (21%); Software (19%) and Cybersecurity (8%).
Looking to 2023, we can expect even more exciting things to come from this island nation. We took an in-depth look at the Irish startup scene and, here, we highlight 10 startups which we are especially excited about, they’ve all been founded since 2019 and are accelerating at an impressive pace.
Fonoa: Founded in Dublin in 2019, Fonoa helps leading internet companies automate their tax obligations, reducing operation costs and increasing compliance. Through offering simple integrations with data, the startup gives companies an automated dashboard that makes it simple to organise tax management. Already powering high-volume merchants and marketplaces around the world, the company has raised a total of about €85 million.
Vaultree: Next-generation Encryption-as-a-Service startup founded in Cork in 2020, Vaultree is on a mission to reshape data protection with innovative, persistent data encryption technology. Vaultree enables enterprises to mitigate the great financial, cyber, legal, reputational, and business risk of a data breach. The company has raised €16.1 million to date and is trusted by brands like Google to safeguard sensitive data.
Evervault: Offering an encryption infrastructure for developers, Evervault was founded in 2018 and has raised over €19 million so far. Evervault can be integrated quicky, making it simple to encrypt and process sensitive data. With Evervault, compliance scope is reduced to the simplest method of validation, and it automatically generates SAQ and AOC for PCI. The Dublin-based company already has customers such as Okra, Manna and Vault.
The Naked Collective: Based in Kildare, The Naked Collective is an interesting DrinksTech company powered by ‘plants, people and purpose’. Founded in 2019, the startup develops plant-based drinks enriched with healthy vitamins. The aim is to address the gap in the market for genuinely healthy and functional drinks, that don’t leave negative environmental impacts. The team has raised about €12.4 million so far.
Wayflyer: Fintech startup Wayflyer is tapping into the growing revenue-based financing market with its platform for e-commerce merchants. Founded in 2019, the startup provides flexible funding and powerful analytics dashboards to help businesses make more informed, data-driven marketing decisions. It’s now secured over €844 million and has offices right across the world, including in Dublin, New York, London, Sydney and Atlanta.
Valid8Me: Launched in 2021, Valid8me is shaking up the regtech sector. The idea is to make onboarding as simple as possible whilst maintaining all-important compliance to increasingly complex and convoluted compliance regulations. Its SaaS platform allows both individuals and corporations to securely store, share and manage their key Know-Your-Customer-related data. The Cork-based team has scored €12.5 million with the latest round in July 2022.
Spectrum.Life: Launched in 2019, Spectrum.Life has a vision of more accessible mental health and wellbeing support through the entire spectrum of a person’s mental health journey. The platform currently provides holistic support including mental health and wellbeing coaches, open-ended therapy, a digital clinic, employee benefits advisory and financial advice. Based in Dublin, the Spectrum.Life team secured €5 million to kickstart 2023.
Gazelle Wind Power: Greentech startup Gazelle Wind Power is helping push forward Europe’s green transition. The Dublin-bord team is developing a platform designed and engineered to enable floating offshore wind production in deeper waters farther out at sea. Founded in 2020 and made up of a team of industry veterans and green energy experts, the startup has secured about €18.6 million.
Envetec: Greentech startup Envetec is on a mission to clean up biohazardous waste from labs. For every lab worker/operator, there is a common struggle: how to treat waste whilst meeting carbon goals, delivering to stakeholders and hitting key targets. Founded in 2021, Envatec helps businesses meet their sustainability goals by transforming the treatment of hazardous laboratory waste into a net zero process directly at the source. Envetec has raised €10 million.
Zipp Mobility: Dublin-based shared e-scooter operator Zipp Mobility was founded in 2019 with a mission to reduce congestion and provide an environmentally friendly alternative to cars. Zipp designs micro-mobility services that meet the needs of everyone in the community – with an awareness of the power this holds to create a more inclusive, accessible and sustainable world. The startup has raised €8.2 million in total and in January 2022 Zipp announced its partnership with the leading multi-mobility app, FREE NOW to offer a fully integrated micro-mobility service across Ireland.
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!
