100 hottest Irish start-ups to watch in 2025

Here is our listing of the hot young start-up businesses from across Ireland who will do great things in 2025.

From AI and fintech to e-commerce, medtech and retail, Ireland’s growing entrepreneurial landscape boasts a dynamic mix of start-ups.

This listing is by no means exhaustive but merely a round-up of those start-ups that have crossed our radar in the past year and whose ambitions will carry them into 2025 and beyond.

It is indicative of the kind of businesses from all corners of Ireland that have their eye on a global prize and the kind of leadership driving them forward.

&Open

Ciara Flood, Jonathan Legge and Mark Legge founded &Open in 2017 to fix corporate gifting by delivering better gifts at scale. Active in 120+ countries, &Open helps brands curate high-quality, design-led, and responsibly-sourced gifts for customers around the world.  &Open has already grown its team to more than 90 people with employees across Ireland, the UK, and the US, and plans to open an office in New York City in the next year. The launch of On-Demand in 2022 not only enables &Open to extend its offering to more companies around the world, but also provides a platform for emerging brands, local vendors, causes, and subscription services to reach new audiences. A $26m Series A round in 2022 brings &Open’s total capital raised to $33.2m.

Assiduous

Assiduous, headquartered at NovaUCD in Dublin, was founded by experienced investment bankers Fergal Meegan and Barry Murphy. The young business is embedding the latest AI methodologies in its proprietary workflows and is presently working with a small number of pilot customers to perfect its solution. The business recently secured a €500,000 funding package from EIT Digital together with an investment from Enterprise Ireland through the Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF) to commercialise Assiduous’ AI native advisory engine over the coming six months. – pic

Amply Discovery

Queen’s University Belfast spin-out Amply Discovery was established in 2021 to commercialise a drug discovery platform developed by the university’s School of Biological Science. The business is focused on the global health threat of antimicrobial resistance and is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to discover new anti-infective products. Earlier this year it raised £1.4m in grant funding to develop its drug discovery platform.

Aurigen

Galway medtech AuriGen aims to provide governments and private healthcare insurers with an alternative to the existing expensive multi-procedure therapies which are currently required to treat challenging heart failure/arrhythmia patients. To address these challenges, AuriGen Medical has created the first device to integrate stroke prevention, heart failure monitoring and arrhythmia management in a single 30-minute day case procedure. AuriGen’s devices will include smart sensors which detect changes in the heart in real-time, resulting in earlier and more accurate data. This patient data is transferred live from their handheld receiver at home to the secure cloud which is instantly accessible by their doctor, helping them to intervene faster, preventing hospitalisations, while improving quality and length of life. Founded by Dr John Thompson, Siora MacClean and Tony O’Halloran, the business recently launched a €750,000 crowdfunding campaign and also recently raised €1.75m from institutional investors in Ireland, bringing total funding to over €15m.

BeyondBMI

Beyondbmi, which is headquartered at NovaUCD in Dublin, offers a unique approach to addressing obesity through personalised medical interventions, community support, and cutting-edge technology. A UCD School of Medicine spin-out Beyondbmi was founded by medical doctor Dr Harriet Treacy and product designer Peter Lumley with support from senior team members including world-leading obesity scientists and clinicians, Professor Carel Le Roux and Dr Werd Al-Najim, UCD School of Medicine and UCD Conway Institute and Professor Alex Miras, Ulster University. The business recently raised €1m in a seed funding round led by private investors and Enterprise Ireland. 

Bluedrop Medical

Bluedrop Medical has developed a device which diabetic patients use to scan their feet at home. This scan is then uploaded to the cloud and checked by AI to see if they are at risk of developing a diabetic foot ulcer, which if left unchecked can lead to amputation. Amputations caused by this have increased in Ireland by 45% in the last decade. Bluedrop Medical was founded by Chris Murphy and Simon Kiersey in 2015 to reduce the rate of preventable amputations for people afflicted with diabetes. Across the US and Europe, more than 250,000 amputations associated with diabetes occur each year, resulting in healthcare costs of over €30bn. In 2021, 645 of those amputations took place in Ireland, an increase of 45% over the previous decade. The business recently raised €10.5m in a funding round that will enable it to create 25 new jobs.

Bounce Insights

Dublin start-up Bounce Insights is transforming market research as we know it, enabling researchers to get answers directly from their target market. The young Dublin company is moving the dial on market research, changing the narrative from “we think” to “we know” directly from the Bounce Insights dashboard. Bounce Insights was founded by five Trinity College Students (now graduates), from both business and computer science backgrounds who started working as a team back in January 2019. The business recently opened an office in the UK to spearhead its European expansion.

BuyMedia

Buymedia is building a community of what it terms “advertising superheroes” by helping SMEs to grow through more effective advertising.

The company claims to have built a world’s first in terms of an online platform that helps SME advertisers to plan, purchase, manage and monitor their advertising across all media, both traditional and digital, to increase return on investment from advertising.

“We believe that SMEs are the real business superheroes – they work hard, the support their community, their lives are a constant struggle and they have to compete for customers with big brands who have better insights and data, greater resources and expertise,” said co-founder and CEO Fergal O’Connor.

The Galway business recently revealed plans to create 100 jobs over the next four years.

Ceroflo

Galway-based Ceroflo has developed a disruptive technology to revolutionise the treatment of intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD), a leading cause of stroke. Ceroflo brings together a stellar team from the Irish medical device industry, including co-founder and chair Eamon Brady; co-founder John O’Dea, CEO Chloe Brown, CTO Brendan Casey and advisor John O’Shaughnessy. The Ceroflo SubMaxT Stent represents a game-changer in the treatment of ICAD as its shape and structure has been developed to suit the unique challenges of this disease. It is designed to gently increase vital blood flow to the brain while reducing the risks associated with first-generation devices, including haemorrhage and stroke. – pic

CitySwift

CitySwift specialises in helping local bus networks run more efficiently through the use of predictive analytics and big data. Founded by Brian O’Rourke and Alan Farrelly, CitySwift is a data analytics business on the move. The business recently raised €7m in a funding round led by Gresham House Ventures. The round also included all existing investors following including Irelandia Investments, the Western Development Commission and ACT Venture Capital with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). This was followed by the opening of CitySwift’s first office in the UK and plans to create 50 new jobs. Founded in 2016, CitySwift is a homegrown Galway headquartered company with a rapidly expanding team of 65 employees building an international roadmap. A market leader working with all the leading UK operators and Public Sector Authorities, the business has consistently doubled recurring revenue over the last three years and is expanding globally into Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and South East Asia.

CleverCards

Since CleverCards’ official market launch in 2023 as a digital payments platform, the company has experienced substantial growth, onboarding over 10,000 businesses directly with 350,000 users in 92 countries. In June it emerged that CleverCards raised €8m in funding from Pluxee, a global player in Employee Benefits and Engagement, as well an additional investment from existing investors. Led by Kealan Lennon, CleverCards has already grown into one of the world’s leading digital payments platforms, enabling businesses and public sector organisations to configure digital Mastercard’s themselves and send them to anyone, anywhere, anytime to download instantly.

Clia

Winner of the 2024 NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition’s Sustainability Prize, Clia is developing software-as-a-service which plugs into existing cardiac rehabilitation services to improve support and treatment for people at risk of cardiac disease. Using wearable health data Clia aims to track and provide insights in heart health, offering links to structured exercise services and give check-ups with cardiac specialist physiotherapists.

Climeaction 

Cork-based Climeaction is a multi-award-winning climate action solutions provider that works with business clients to review and focus on their ESG performance. Its management team has more than 50 years’ experience working with high calibre clients. A recent financing deal with Bank of Ireland has given the consulting firm the wind beneath its sales to pursue a recent MBO and expand into the US. Since the financing to enable the MBO from Leading Edge, its former parent firm, Climeaction has also secured a €2.3m investment from the Davy EIIS fund. 

Cozmotec

Cuty Gupta’s Dublin tech firm Cozmotec makes tech accessible and profitable for businesses. Gupta (pictured) has identified a gap in the market where SMEs are falling behind in terms of technology and are failing to make use of more efficient options. The CosmoTec team is comprised of experienced project managers, software developers, innovation experts and business leaders driven by solving business problems with technology solutions. – pic

Coroflo

Coroflo is a medtech company that monitors breastfeeding to know how much baby is getting, real time data tracked on your phone. Led by CEO Rosanne Longmore, the business recently opened a new headquarters at DCU Alpha in Dublin following a successful funding round of €3m that brought total investment to date to more than €6m.

CreditLogic

CreditLogic is a B2B digital mortgage lending and SaaS platform enabling banks to provide new mortgages. Founded in 2018 by Eddie Dillon, Gavin Bennett, Martin Scott and Mary Brennan, the business recently raised €3.5m to fund its European expansion.

The CX Academy

The CX Academy is the industry standard for professional accreditation in Customer Experience learning. The business recently raised €1.5m in funding from the EIIS Innovation Fund.

Cytidel

Cytidel is an Irish-based SaaS Security and Business Intelligence company that transforms how organisations identify, triage and remediate their cyber risks. Matthew Conlon (ex-Accenture and Workhuman) and Conor Flannery (ex-Integrity360 and Accenture) co-founded Cytidel in 2021 after spending a decade in cyber security across IT, finance and policing. Having witnessed first-hand how cyber security teams are overwhelmed with the quantity of cyber risks, the pair developed Cytidel. Cytidel works with blue-chip customers including An Post and Carne Group, enabling their security teams to operate with over 95% enhanced efficiency. The business last year secured €1.35m in a seed round led by Elkstone Ventures and Enterprise Ireland. – pic

Dimply

Dimply helps financial services firms to to unlock the value of financial data and embed intelligent insurance, pension and wealth experiences and communicate better with their customers online. The business was founded in 2020 by Alan Quinlan, Colm McLoughlin and Johnny Kane and is led by CEO Jackie Dunn. In March 2024 it raises €1.5m in funding.

Evervault

Founded by Shane Curran, Evervault is creating a data privacy toolkit that developers can “bake in” into new products. The company in 2022 raised $16m in a Series A round led by Index Ventures. In 2019 when Curran was just 19, the company raised $3.2m in seed funding in a round led by venerable Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital along with Kleiner Perkins, Frontline, and SV angel along with some unnamed tech innovators and investors. In May it emerged that Evervault is entering the payments space with an independent payments security platform that will give fintechs, banks and merchants total control over their payment stack without compromising compliance or security.

Eppione

Eppione’s platform helps to boost employees’ engagement with their benefits package, while enabling employers to gain deep insights into uptake and drive informed decisions when changing their offerings. The People Analytics module creates automated reports into areas including gender pay gaps, workforce diversity and absence trends across the business. Founded in 2016 by three friends and benefits enthusiasts – David Kindlon, Neil Fallon and Ernest Legrand – today Eppione has a world-class team of experts in benefits, insurance and financial advice, helping businesses navigate the complex options available to them.

FeelTect

Spiddal-based medtech FeelTect was co-founded in 2019 by CEO Dr Andrew Cameron after he took part in BioInnovate Ireland, a clinical immersion scheme in Irish and US hospital systems. It was during this period that Dr Cameron identified an unmet need for safe, effective, and consistent application of compression therapy, which is the primary treatment for millions of people with venous leg ulcers (VLUs) globally. The company claims Tight Alright, its flagship connected-health technology, is the first of its kind. Comprising a wearable device with multiple pressure sensors that wirelessly connects with a digital platform, the device allows care providers to measure and remotely monitor sub-bandage pressure applied during compression therapy, significantly reducing healing times and treatment costs, as well as leading to better quality of life for patients. The business recently raised €1.5m from investors including the Western Development Commission, bringing funding to date to €2.7m. 

Fenergo

Led by CEO Marc Murphy, Fenergo’s SaaS platform provides solutions to the world’s largest and most complex financial institutions, helping to fight financial crime and to enhance customer journeys while being compliant every step of the way. Fenergo currently helps top financial institutions including ICBC Standard Bank, Santander, Mizuho, ABN AMRO and BNP Paribas to digitally transform their end-to-end client lifecycle processes.

Galvia

Galvia is a decision intelligence platform that supports organisations to make better decisions through their data. The Galway business, led by founder and CEO John Clancy, has worked with some of the largest companies in the world including Nestlé and Atos as well as introducing an AI powered student engagement platform for NUI Galway. – pic

Gigable

Dublin business Gigable provides gig workers with access to paid leave benefits. Founded by John Ryan, Gigable is a decentralised gig economy marketplace app, connecting businesses and drivers where they can post and accept gigs, communicate, invoice and be paid. While well-known gig economy apps provide drivers with ad-hoc work, Gigable’s key differentiator is that it provides its delivery driver community with full shifts, giving them more confidence to work independently. High profile customers include The Press Up Group, Bombay Pantry, Platform Pizza and Eddie Rockets.

Gym+Coffee

Gym+Coffee was started in 2017 by founders Niall Horgan, Karl Swaine and Diarmuid McSweeney as an online-only store selling hoodies and active wear. The popular athleisure brand has expanded its retail footprint in Ireland to 12 stores over the past three years and now employs more than 200 people. Last year the business raised €17m in funding. With this milestone investment, Gym+Coffee will be able to not only make strides in the UK market to develop relationships with sports organisations, athletes and health and wellness leaders, but also develop sustainability initiatives.

Green Rebel

Green Rebel provides a full range of survey and data services to the offshore renewable energy industry. Cork-born business Green Rebel recently revealed how it is expanding to Limerick and has revealed plans to create 75 new jobs. Green Rebel was established by Irish entrepreneur Pearse Flynn in 2020 and specialises in acquiring, processing and analysing marine, aerial and met-ocean data using survey boats and aircraft as well as LiDAR buoys and innovative technologies that are designed and assembled in Limerick. Green Rebel has live and upcoming projects in Ireland, Scotland and off the coast of mainland Europe. There are also a number of potential projects in international markets such as the United States and Australia. – pic

Giyst

Giyst is using AI and machine learning to reshape the global video content repurposing industry. Giyst, a University College Dublin (UCD) spin-out company which is based in Cork, has already secured €525,000 from angel investors and Enterprise Ireland as part of a seed round. It intends to bring this up to to €750,000 via a crowdfunding round. Giyst automates the process of editing long-form videos into engaging, shorter clips and summaries suitable for social media, marketing, education, and digital platforms.

Graphite-Note

Founded in 2020 by Hrvoje Smolic, CEO, and Vinnie Lynch, CRO, Graphite Note is a no-code machine learning platform that gives businesses around the globe access to actionable insights via unique analytics. The business recently closed a seed investment round of €1.2m. Graphite-Note looks to continue scaling a global business out of Kerry, and with this investment, the team hopes to create 25 local jobs over the next two years, in roles including operations, sales, marketing and technology.

GridBeyond

GridBeyond has developed its AI platform to help businesses unlock the full potential of energy assets, ensuring the sustainability, resilience, and affordability of energy as the world moves towards a zero-carbon future. In April the Dublin-headquartered tech firm closed a €52.2m Series C financing round led by Alantra’s energy transition fund Kilma.

Grinds 360

Combining Ireland’s best teachers with cutting-edge AI technology and an innovative hybrid model, Grinds 360 looks to democratise grind education, ensuring access to students not restricted by geography or finances. Founded by experienced secondary school grinds teacher Ronan Murdock and serial entrepreneur Brendan Kavanagh, Grinds 360 was born out of a desire to address gaps in the traditional grinds system and transform the current education landscape. The platform provides personalised, high-quality education with affordable pricing options, making exceptional grinds accessible nationwide. The business recently secured €3.2m in funding from investors that include rugby stars Brian O’Driscoll, Caelan Doris, Jordan Larmour, Sean Cunningham from Brass Monkey New York, Shane Glynn of Lexas Technologies, Stephen Langan, and Kilkenny hurler Walter Walsh.

HALO

Belfast-founded HALO is a body cam and cloud-based digital asset management. It is a complete safety solution that utilises innovation to stay ahead of threats and decrease risk. The business raised $20m in February in a Series A found from Volition Capital.

Holotoyz

Meath-based Irish augmented reality technology start-up HoloToyz recently took home the coveted prize for its ‘outstandingly innovative’ Paw Patrol Tattoos and Stickers at Spielwarenmesse, the world’s biggest toy fair. The business was founded by Kate Scott and Declan Fahy. With the HoloToyz technology augmented reality tattoos and stickers come to life in a whole new way, providing kids with an interactive and immersive play experience like never before. Kids can watch as their favourite Paw Patrol characters come to life right before their eyes, thanks to the magic of augmented reality. For the first time, they can also place their favourite pups in their room and capture them on camera. – pic

HRLocker

Lahinch, Co Clare-based HRLocker is a cloud-based HR software service that digitally transforms people management and recruitment. HRLocker’s SaaS solution makes the management of office-based, remote, and distributive workforces possible. HRLocker is a Deliberately Developmental Organisation (DDO) with adult development at the heart of everything they do. Led by founder and CEO Adam Coleman, HRLocker is planning to hire 50 new staff over the next two years after raising €2m in funding.

ID-Pal

ID-Pal enables businesses to verify the identity of customers in real-time simply, securely and conveniently. The company was founded by James O’Toole and Colum Lyons and enables businesses to onboard and verify customers identity in seconds. Last year it raised €7m in a Series A round.

Inclusio 

Sandra Healy’s Inclusio has ambitions to be Ireland’s first female-founded tech unicorn. Inclusio is the first digital platform to combine technology, behavioural science and psychology for organisations to use to help them drive improvements in Diversity and Inclusion within their workforce and deliver measurable improvements in their culture and business performance that should be realised as a direct result of these improvements in the employee lived experience. Inclusio spun-out from DCU as a private company in 2020. The company last year revealed plans to create 80 new jobs after raising €6.2m in funding.

Inscribe

Ronan and Conor Burke co-founded Inscribe in San Francisco along with Oisin Moran and James Eggers after graduating from university in 2017. Inscribe is an automated document fraud detection system that allows businesses to instantly verify their customers when they request proof of income, proof of address, or proof of expense information. In 2020 they were listed in Forbes 30 under 30 list and in 2021 revealed plans to create 30 Dublin jobs after raising $10.5m. Last year Inscribe raised $25m in a Series B round that brought the total amount of funding raised by the business to $38m. The funding came on the heels of the company seeing a 3x year-over-year increase in recurring revenue and a 4x year-over-year increase in monthly usage.

Inspeq AI

Dublin based AI company Inspeq AI recently raised $1.1m in funding. They are on a mission to help global companies deliver a safe, secure, and responsible AI Future. Specialist AI investment firm Sure Valley Ventures lead the funding round, with participation from Delta Partners. The company was founded by Apoorva Kumar and Ramanujam Macharla Vijayakumar, who previously worked at Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and LinkedIn in building and leading robust and scalable AI products, before leaving to found Inspeq AI in Ireland, as part of the Founders programme at Dogpatch Labs. Inspeq AI is also a recent graduate of Founders, a talent accelerator funded by NDRC, which supports start-ups through a unique talent accelerator and initial funding.

Jamango

Jamango, the Dublin based developers of a browser-based game creation platform earlier this year raised $2.5m to accelerate development ahead of launching globally later this year. The pre-seed funding round was co-led by Elkstone and Delta Partners with additional funding from notable angel investors including Brian Caulfield (Chair of Scale Ireland), Brendan O’Driscoll (VP of Product at Figma), and Conor Sheahan (Founder of CKS Finance) who joins as chair. Jamango, which was founded by serial entrepreneurs Adam Dalton, Richard Whelan and Jeremy Klarenbeek, empowers users to instantly create and play user-generated games online.

JustTip

On a mission to become the de facto tipping software platform for Europe, TU Dublin fintech spinout JustTip allows employers to help staff to earn more while keeping their businesses compliant with new legislation. Led by Ciara Walsh and James Fahy, the cashless tipping system prpvides a tipping platform separate to your business with end-to-end transaction reports and complete transparency for employees and customers.

Keelvar

UCC spin-out company Keelvar’s technology addresses inefficiencies in the global trillion-dollar procurement marketplace. Led by CEO and former UCC lecturer Alan Holland, its sourcing technology – which leverages AI, data science and smart sourcing bots that run on autopilot – empowers customers to make crucial supply chain decisions quickly and confidently amidst ongoing change and disruption.

Kerno

Dublin start-up Kerno has reimagined the entire cloud troubleshooting experience, empowering engineers to solve problems within minutes. Kerno was founded in 2022 by Sean Madigan, Karim Traiaia, Anibel Ambertin, Maxi Delo and Vlad Romanov, who all have extensive engineering backgrounds and have faced the very issues Kerno now solves. The business last year raised €1.69m in a seed round led by Elkstone Ventures.

Kwayga

Kwayga is on a mission to match B2B buyers and suppliers in the food industry at a rate never seen before. Kwayga was established by co-founders Martin Fitzgerald and Mike McGrath in 2021 and is based in Cork, Ireland. The company’s matching algorithm analyses business’ data to match buyers with suppliers, providing active high-quality shortlists in minutes instead of months.  This is done on an ongoing basis, but also in the Kwayga Deal Centre where buyers post live requirements for suppliers to engage on. The subscription-based platform platform solves a range of challenges that B2B buyers and suppliers face on a daily basis when finding, verifying, connecting with and communicating in any language with new perfectly matched buyers or suppliers. It also fills the gap in in-house resources and skill sets that buyers and suppliers in the food and beverage industry lack when researching new business opportunities.

LaNua Medical 

Medtech start-up LaNua will represent Ireland at the Pegasus Start-up World Cup in San Francisco later this year after being presented with the Big Ideas Award at the Enterprise Ireland Start-up Day 2024. LaNua Medical which is an Enterprise Ireland commercialisation funded project approaching spin-out, is developing solutions for problems in embolization, a minimally-invasive procedure that can be used to treat internal bleeding or cause tumour-necrosis. Its GateKeeper device blocks blood flow to select tissue, while enabling targeted therapeutic delivery with reduced risk of side effects.

LegitFit

LegitFit is a leading provider of management software for gyms and fitness studios. Since launching in 2019, the company has attracted customers across 15 countries and achieved 5-star ratings across all review sites. Founded in 2019 by Ryan O’ Neill, Gearoid Collins and Ian O’ Sullivan, LegitFit provides gyms, studios and independent fitness professionals with business management software that saves its customers up to €10,000 per year. Its core mission is to empower fitness entrepreneurs, to optimise their time so they can focus on what really matters to them – be that inside or outside the business. The business raised €1m in a seed funding round led by Delta Partners in 2022.

Loci Orthopaedics 

Galway-based Loci Orthopaedics has developed an innovative orthopaedic implant for the treatment of thumb base arthritis. In July the business raised €12.8m to expand its clinical programmes and drive the commercialisation of its technology.

Manna

Bobby Healy, one of the brilliant minds behind the success of CarTrawler, is back with Manna.Aero, a fascinating new venture focused on using drones to deliver goods, starting with food. If he is successful Healy could be the author of a breakthrough in transport platform that could make much of the road transport of goods by road a thing of the past. Manna has already attracted backing from venture capital firms Elkstone Capital and Frontline Ventures. The company is trialling its drone technology in west Dublin, including 40,000 drone deliveries a week for a variety of food brands that include Boojum and Offbeat Donuts.

MarketSizer

The Dublin based market intelligence platform MarketSizer recently closed pre-seed funding round, totalling €1m. The round was led by Delta Partners with additional support from Enterprise Ireland and angel investors. Founded in 2023 by Niall O’Gorman, MarketSizer aggregates millions of data points to deliver real-time intelligence, helping businesses identify high-probability targets, optimise sales, improve marketing efforts and increase customer retention.

Mbryonics

Galway-based space tech business Mbryonics is at the forefront of transforming satellite communications, datacoms, and 5G wireless sectors through cutting-edge wireless optical transport and Coherent Photonic-Optical (CPO) transceiver technologies, ensuring high-speed, secure communication infrastructures in space, air, and on land. Led by CEO John Mackey, the business recently raised €17.5m from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator. The €17.5m investment will allow the company establish a significant manufacturing, assembly, and testing facility for optics and photonics in the west of Ireland over the next five years. – pic

Micron Agritech

This TU Dublin spinout player is revolutionising rapid animal health testing using AI. With a cumulative funding of €5m to date, the spin-out is dedicated to revolutionising rapid animal health testing through the innovative use of artificial intelligence technology in its Micron Kit. Founded by Daniel Izquierdo, Tara McElligott and Sean Smith in 2019, the Micron Kit allows veterinarians to conduct on-site, rapid parasite testing on animals using their mobile phones, delivering results in minutes.

MyGug

MyGug is at the forefront of innovation in food waste management with a pioneering system that turns food waste into energy. In March it emerged that the young West Cork business MyGug has raised €900,000 in a funding round led by BVP with participation from Enterprise Ireland. MyGug harnesses the natural process of anaerobic digestion and provides a technology that brings this sustainable zero-waste solution to a new market. MyGug founders Kieran Coffey and Fiona Kelleher were named Business People of the Month by The Irish Times in November 2023, in association with Bank of Ireland.

NoFrixion 

Focused on revolutionising business payments, NoFrixion is was founded by Feargal Brady and Aaron Clauson. With customers in Ireland, UK, Belgium and Portugal, the company is leading the charge towards a fully digital payments landscape, with large systems integrators already signing up as partners. The company two years ago raised €3.6m in a round led by Delta Partners, Middlegame Ventures and Furthr VC.

NeuroBell 

Cork start-up NeuroBell has developed an AI-powered medical device to accurately detect seizures in newborns, which can reduce the risk of long-term brain injury. Founded by Dr Mark O’Sullivan, Dr Alison O’Shea and Colm Murphy, and a spin-out from University College Cork and the Irish Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research (INFANT), NeuroBell aims to address a critical gap in the availability and accuracy of current technologies used to detect seizures in newborns admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Early detection of seizures is crucial for enabling early intervention that will help reduce seizure burden, which can cause life-changing conditions such as epilepsy and cerebral palsy. Earlier this year the UCC spinout closed a €2.1m investment round led by Furthr VC, Atlantic Bridge and the HBAN MedTech Syndicate as well as Enterprise Ireland and various private investors.

Nevo

Dublin-based Nevo is on a mission to accelerate the transition to electric motoring in Ireland by educating motorists. Launched in 2022, Nevo is Ireland’s first dedicated EV platform, offering a comprehensive range of services catering towards those who want to become informed on electric vehicle ownership, and also to those who are ready to make the switch to electric motoring. The business is also the creator of the Electric Vehicle Show which was sold-out earlier this year, promoting a return of the event to the RDS in Dublin on 10 November. – pic

Neurent Medical 

Neurent Medical pioneers treatments for chronic inflammatory sino-nasal diseases.

The Galway business raised $25m in January in a Series B round.

Numra

AI-powered financial automation platform Numra recently raised €1.5m in funding in a round led by Elkstone, which has also backed successful Irish start-ups such as Manna, Flipdish and LetsGetChecked. Numra – formerly known as Autonifai – provides finance and accounting teams with the tech infrastructure needed to scale. Powered by AI, the integrated and intuitive solution streamlines complex financial workflows to save time and eliminate errors to reduce costs. The business was founded in 2023, by David Kearney (co-founder of Peblo acquired by Wayflyer) and Conor Digan (ex-Wonder, GerYourGuide).

Nurture

Limerick-based edtech start-up Nurture helps teachers to provide feedback to their students using AI using a custom-built tool that works with Microsoft Teams. It identifies knowledge gaps in students’ work.

The business, founded by Limerick natives David Neville, Padraic Hogan, and Dublin man Daniel Paul, was recently selected by the Education Authority of Northern Ireland to roll out its AI teaching assistant to over 1,100 schools across Northern Ireland.

This will see Nurture’s technology used by more than 20,000 teachers and 345,000 students.

Oblivious AI 

Oblivious AI has developed pioneering privacy enhancing technologies to help organisations keep sensitive data safe while creating insight opportunities for the data owners. Oblivious AI recently secured $1.05m in an initial seed funding round from investors that include Atlantic Bridge, Act Venture Capital, Hustle Fund and a group of angel investors. The NovaUCD-headquartered company, which was co-founded in 2020 by Robert Pisarczyk (pictured) and Jack Fitzsimons, will use the funding to build out its core team, further develop its initial product offering, and continue to work closely with its early customer base.

OOHPod

Launched in 2022 by John Tuohy following the sale of his Nightline courier business and its locker arm ParcelMotel, OOHPod parcel lockers are designed with sustainability, convenience, and security in mind. Earlier this year the business raised €5.4m in new funding which brings total funding raised to date to €8.5m. 

Orgo – Named One to Watch in the NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition, Orgo is developing a mobile e-learning platform focused on Organic Chemistry to enable students across the academic spectrum to become comfortable with the subject. The mobile app will help students with bite-size lessons and revision questions to ensure success throughout their college careers.

Outmin

provides outsourced accounting and bookkeeping services for small but scaling companies, leveraging AI and cloud technology to create a best in class experience. The business recently raised €1.5m in seed funding to tackle the distraction of admin, with an initial focus on accounts and bookkeeping. Outmin co-founder, Ross Hunt, said: “90pc of the world’s businesses are SMEs, but for a variety of reasons, SME professional services today do not reflect the modern world. We believe that tightly integrating accountants and book-keepers within a cutting-edge data science and machine learning platform is the first step to enable a revolution in SME professional services and our explosive growth to date has already validated our innovative approach.”

Output Sports

Output Sports provides an all-in-one solution for testing, monitoring, and optimising athletic performance. Its technology featured strongly in the recent Olympics in Paris supporting athletes and coaches. Output Sports was spun out of UCD and first launched in 2020 by Dr Martin O’Reilly, Dr Darragh Whelan, Julian Eberle, and Professor Brian Caulfield. It originated from the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, and the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics. The company serves clients across all major leagues including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, NFL, NBA, WNBA, NWSL, MLB, PGA Tour, GAA, as well as in gyms and rehab clinics in over 40 countries. Output Sports investors include, Atlantic Bridge University Fund, Elkstone Partners, Enterprise Ireland, and angel investors.

Payslip

Mayo business Payslip is scaling globally due to skyrocketing of demand for payroll services by multinationals that have postponed the return to the office. Payslip was founded in Westport, Mayo, in 2015 by Fidelma McGuirk. Payslip’s software-as-a-service platform empowers payroll professionals to streamline their global payroll processes. One of Ireland’s hottest start-ups Payslip is expanding its presence to more than 60 countries having seen a surge in demand for hybrid workforces as a result of the pandemic.

Prommt

When it comes to paying for big ticket items whether they are weddings, holidays, building supplies, clothing or even cars, many people put less emphasis on the security of the transaction over a phone call than they would if they were buying the same products or services online. Led by fintech veteran Donal McGuinness, Prommt describes itself as a “payment success platform.” The business blends secure e-commerce payments with online and offline e-commerce payments. The company, a spin-out from Dublin firm Puca, launched in 2019 after taking Puca’s Pay2Sender payments gateway platform and redeploying it as a way to enable businesses to allow customers to securely validate payments over the phone or online.

Provizio

Provizio is a Limerick tech business founded by entrepreneur Barry Lunn with the ambition to make its autonomous accident-prevention technology in cars as ubiquitous as seat belts. Lunn, who sold his previous business Arralis an aircraft radar technology firm, for a reported $50m in 2017, set about assembling a dream team of experts in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and vision-and-radar sensor development. The product is a five-dimensional sensory vision system that will augment drivers’ capabilities and prevent accidents in real-time and beyond line of sight. Provizio has raised $6.2m in funding from a range of investors including Movidius founders Seán Mitchell and David Moloney, automotive entrepreneur Bobby Hambrick as well as the European Innovation Council and Act Venture Capital.

Protex AI

Protex AI develops an AI-powered proactive health and safety technology that enables an injury-free industrial workplace. The business was founded in Limerick in 2021 by CEO Dan Hobbs and chief technology officer Ciaran O’Mara. Protex AI uses computer vision to identify health and safety issues and reduce injuries. Protex AI last year raised $18m in a Series A round led by Notion Capital with participation from Playfair Capital, Elkstone and Firstminute Capital.

ProMotion Rewards

Young Irish business ProMotion Rewards helps brands to understand changes in the market right from the till. Founded by Trinity graduates and LaunchBox alumni Bidemi Afolabi and Lauren O’Reilly, allows consumers to photograph their receipts, complete surveys and enter competitions via a dedicated app, earning points when they participate. In 2022 the business raised €725,000 in a pre-seed investment round with participation from Delta Partners and Enterprise Ireland.

ProVascTec 

ProVascTec is a device-driven cell therapy company, developing a revolutionary approach for treating patients suffering from critical limb ischemia. Thousands of sufferers face limb amputations every year. Led by Dr Holger Müller, the UCC spinout, which is currently valued at €5.3m, has developed a treatment for blocked arteries in lower limbs, a condition that leads to up to 800 leg amputations annually in Ireland alone. The business recently landed €2.1m in research funding as part of a consortium under the Horizon Europe programme. Separately it is raising €900,000 on the Spark Crowdfunding programme, with two-thirds of this already raised.

Proveye

Dublin-based Proveye has developed an AI-driven remote sensing platform to enable more predictable and profitable decision-making for agriculture and the environment. Proveye, headquartered at NovaUCD in Dublin, was founded by Jerome O’Connell and Professor Nick Holden as spin-out from the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering.  The company an Enterprise Ireland high-potential start-up has been supported to date with funding from ComOp, Enterprise Ireland and ESA. The business was recently selected for the AWS (Amazon Web Services) Clean Energy Accelerator 4.0 programme, Generative AI Energy Lab edition. It is among a cohort of 15 global start-ups chosen from over 800 applications from more than 70 countries for the programme.

Quantmatix

Dublin-based Quantmatix uses advanced tools and algorithms that assist traders and investors in decision making.

In March the business completed a funding round that secured it €2.7m worth of investment.

Recruitroo

Founded in April 2022, Recruitroo’s recruitment and migration platform uses AI and automation to streamline all aspects of international hiring for their enterprise clients in the construction & engineering, hospitality and healthcare industries. By linking companies and candidates around the globe through video-based profiles and digital skills assessments, Recruitroo breaks down contextual barriers. Founded by Shane Kiernan and Stephen MacCarthy, the business last year secured €1m in investment in a round led by Delta Partners with participation from Enterprise Ireland and several notable angel investors.

Riley 

Founded by three Irish friends during the pandemic, Riley is disrupting period care with eco-friendly products and healthy supplements. It now ships to 34 countries worldwide. Frustrated with the lack of healthy options in the market three friends Fiona Parfrey, Lauren Duggan and Aine Kilkenny decided that a different approach was needed. “We’re on a mission to start a new era for female health, a crucial era for humankind that has been underserved since the dawn of time,” Parfrey recently told ThinkBusiness.

SymPhysis Medical

This Galway business is developing a device that enables late-stage cancer patients to manage a very distressing condition by themselves. SymPhysis Medical in December last year received €1.5m in funding and is seeking an additional €4.5m-plus to support the continued development of its breakthrough medical device, FDA approval and the creation of new jobs. SymPhysis Medical was co-founded by CEO, Tim Jones, and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Michelle Tierney. The company is developing a drainage device, called ‘releaze’, for individuals with fluid in the chest, a condition which can significantly compromise the quality of life for 50% of people with late-stage cancer. – pic

SAOL

The SAOL platform, which Olympian Derval O’Rourke has founded with her business partner Greg O’Gorman, brings employers and employees together and creates a supportive and inclusive community. A €200,000 investment from Enterprise Ireland is part of an initial seed funding round of €400,000 that will fund the cost of the business plan and internationalisation, and is projecting the creation of 26 full-time jobs by the end of 2026. – pic

Shopbox AI

Shopbox AI is focused on bringing high end Artificial Intelligence to any size of online retailer in order to generate more revenue from online shoppers and compete in a highly competitive space. This is done through an easy to integrate AI product hyper-personalisation platform, already proven to work in over 50 online retailers. The basic issue online retail faces is extremely low margins driven by the ever increasing cost of ads. By “wrapping” the store around the customer, Shopbox clients typically see a 3x increase in conversion. The business was founded in 2020 by Alan Gormley (CEO) and Tariq Zaki (CTO).

Siren 

Scaling Galway tech business Siren, which specialises in cyber intelligence and works with law enforcement agencies all over the world, last year raised €12m in backing from the European Investment Back to fight cybercrime. Its technology allows investigators to make complex searches, organise the results visually and create advanced reports to share findings with their teams. Led by seasoned tech leader John Randles, the platform is also used by large corporations to protect their assets and networks against fraud and cyber threats. The Galway firm has partnered with US based non-profit organisations like the Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII) and the National Child Protection Task Force (NCPTF) who use its patented technology to solve complex intelligence problems, identify traffickers and reduce human trafficking. Siren was founded in Galway in 2014 by Giovanni Tummarello and Renaud Delbru as a spinout from Data Intensive Infrastructure, a Big Data research group at NUI Galway.

Soothing Solutions

Louth-based healthcare firm Soothing Solutions manufactures a range of honey jelly pops called Tonstix aimed at providing a children’s alternative to lozenges. Led by Enterprise Ireland HPSU Founder of the Year for 2024 Sinead Crowther, the company’s flagship Tonstix products are now stocked in more than 1,400 pharmacies across Ireland, and recently launched on Amazon UK.

Skippio

SOS Cookies 

SOS Cookies, which began life as a Covid project, is now on track to hit a turnover of €1m after generating a loyal audience through platforms like TikTok. Founded in December 2020 by chocolate-loving mastermind Sarah O’Sullivan, SOS Cookies is the ultimate cookie haven born from a passion for all things sweet and delightful. With a background in product development and a keen eye for analysing food trends thanks to a Masters with Bord Bia in Food Innovation & Insights, Sarah’s journey into the world of cookies was inevitable.

Spectrum.Life

Spectrum.Life has set itself apart from other mental health and wellbeing providers through its commitment to the fullness of support across the entire mental health journey. Led by CEO Stephen Costello, with its 24/7 access to unlimited mental health and wellbeing support, including a personal Mental Health Coach and Open-ended Therapy at the touch of a button, Spectrum.Life is well positioned to continue its rapid growth and make a lasting impact on the mental health and wellbeing of its users. The business recently raised €17m in a new funding round led by Act Venture Capital and existing investors.

STRATxAI

STRATxAI, the Dublin-based fintech, successfully raised €1.5m and has officially launched ‘Alana’ a powerful investment platform that leverages AI to generate smart investment portfolios. The product is already active with investment industry partners including eToro.

StrikePay

Strikepay is the market leading cashless tipping technology in Ireland and the UK and also functions as a leading cashless payments and donations provider. StrikePay was founded during the Covid-19 pandemic by Oli Cavanagh and Charles Dowd to help resolve problems that have arisen from the demise of cash. The business has developed a contact-free solution for tips, payments and charitable donations through NFC and QR code technology. It is currently being used by nearly 7,000 merchants in Ireland and the UK from the hospitality and services industries to individual tradespeople. Last year it teamed up with European open banking platform TrueLayer to help verify bank accounts quickly, eliminating the mistakes that could arise with manually entering bank account details.

SynOx Therapeutics 

SynOx Therapeutics is a biotechnology research company that focused on developing the treatment of diffuse tenosynovial giant cell tumours. In May the business raised $75m in a new round, bringing the total raised by the business to more than $100m.

Tailr

Redefining production for the clothing industry, Tailr was developed to tackle inconsistent sizing and excessive garment waste from the manufacturing level. The brainchild of Shana Chu, the Waterford firm’s platform streamlines production processes, ensuring consistent sizing across fabrics, cuts and seasons while supporting clothing brands in achieving their sustainability goals. Last year the business raised €700,000 in funding in a round led by Delta Partners and UK investor Haatch alongside Enterprise Ireland and angel investors. – pic

Tines

Tines, creators of no-code automation for security teams – is focused on powering the world’s most important workflows. The business was founded in 2018 by Eoin Hinchy and Thomas Kinsella admittedly out of frustration with existing solutions in the market. In April it emerged that the business raised $50m in an oversubscribed Series B extension round from existing investors. This follows a $55m raise in 2022 from some of the biggest venture capital players in Silicon Valley.

Tru Health

Led by experienced entrepreneurs and healthcare practitioners, Tru Health aims to be at the heart of how tech is changing healthcare. Tru Health is a first-of-its-kind advanced health clinic designed help people get to the root cause of health symptoms through doctor-led whole-person assessment, smart testing, AI technology and lifestyle tracking. The start-up is the brainchild of the founders of Irish supplement brand Ethos and Dr Sally Bramley, a leading NHS doctor trained in functional and lifestyle medicine.

Trustap

Trustap is on a mission to provide buyers and sellers with peace of mind when engaging in an online or face-to-face transaction. Led by CEO and founder Conor Lyden, the Cork-born business raised €5.1m in funding.

UFODRIVE

Founded in 2018 by Aidan McCLean, UFODRIVE offer a fully digital rental experience, charge point wayfinding, touchless smartphone access and online customer support with live telematics using UFODRIVE’s SaaS platform.. The business has experienced sustained growth throughout the pandemic, opening new locations as well as adding home delivery and subscription to its existing rental operation. Following successful live testing in 2021, Hertz aims to deploy UFODRIVE’S market-leading digital rental and fleet management technology to enhance its global EV fleet operations. The business recently raised $19m in Series A led by Hertz in partnership with Knightshead Capital and existing shareholders.

Unify Ordering 

Unify Ordering was born out of Barry McNerney’s own experience in the restaurant industry as owner of Lotts & Co., Paulie’s Pizza, and Junior’s Deli and Café. Unify Ordering is shaking up the hospitality sector by replacing an antiquated and fragmented ordering process for Buyers and Suppliers on one mobile-friendly platform. Unify Ordering has over 2,000 suppliers and restaurant customers on its ordering platform.

Vertigenius

Vertigenius has developed a wearable head sensor and software that can improve the treatment of vertigo. In May it emerged that the Trinity College Dublin spin-out Vertigenius raised €2.1m in seed funding that will result in the creation of 10 new jobs and power the firm’s expansion to the US and UK.

Vevol Media 

Naas start-up Vevol Media helps merchants to build high-performing online stores. Led by Dan Nistor and Bogdan Dogaru, the business helps businesses navigate a maze of jargon and technologies to get clear results.

VisionR 

VisionR is a Phygital (physical-digital) SaaS Solution for bricks-and-mortar retailers that transforms real-world shoppers into online actionable data. The company, founded by Shane O’Sullivan and Oran Mulvey, has The company secured a partnership with Spar International that will see its technology rolled out across the retail giant’s 13,500 stores in 48 countries. In 2022 the company received €1.5m in backing from Delta Partners and Movidius co-founder Seán Mitchell.

Wayflyer

Dublin business Wayflyer joined the storied ranks of Ireland’s relatively young unicorn herd in early 2022 after raising $150m. The business, which was founded only in 2019 by Aidan Corbett and Jack Pierce provides revenue-based financing and marketing analytics for online firms. It then provides e-commerce stores with unsecured capital to secure advertising and inventory ahead of selling items. Wayflyer is understood to have advanced $500m to more than 800 companies globally last year. In mid-2022 it emerged that Wayflyer took on $300m in debt financing from JP Morgan.

Wellola

Xerotech

Galway-based Xerotech is a world leader in advanced battery system for non-road mobile machinery. Its Hibernium battery pack platform allows heavy-duty machinery to be configured as electric vehicles. Xerotech has a proven track record of delivering high-performance battery solutions for a wide range of applications, from mining and construction equipment to marine and aviation vehicles. Led by CEO Barry Flannery, Xerotech has just announced 100 new roles to support its drive to meet rising demand worldwide.

xOcean

Data gathered by uncrewed surface vessels made by Louth business Xocean have the potential to transform ocean exploration as well as offshore wind farms by gathering whole oceans’ worth of data. Founded by James Ives, Xocean’s data technology allows large businesses such as energy companies to survey the ocean floor to do everything from discovering minerals, maintaining important fibre optic telecoms networks to surveying for suitable locations for offshore wind farms. In recent months the business raised €30m in funding, including €20m in venture-debt funding from the European Investment Bank.

xWave

xWave Technologies, an Enterprise Ireland high-potential start-up, supported by the HSE Digital Transformation Team, was established in 2020 by a group of leading Irish radiologists who were looking to solve the problems that they face in their day-to-day work. In 2021, xWave Technologies launched xRefer, a smart radiology referral platform. xRefer uses market-leading evidence to support clinicians in ordering the most appropriate radiology scan for their patient. As a cloud-based platform, available on web, iOS and Android apps, xRefer enables clinicians to quickly create and send evidence-based digital radiology referrals from anywhere, to any hospital or imaging centre, whether public or private. The business has already demonstrated a positive impact in Irish hospitals where use of xRefer has reduced the average time taken to create, send and have a referral reviewed by a radiologist by 99.6%. This has enabled scheduling of patient appointments to occur a week and a half earlier on average. The business last year raised €1.3m in funding from private investors.

Yonder

Yonder empowers employers to create packages in minutes and employees to secure local health and retirement benefits in just a few taps. Founded in 2022, by a team of serial entrepreneurs and engineers including CEO Luke Mackey, former Ireland Country Manager for ride-hailing unicorn Bolt and founder of food-tech app Bamboo, CTO Patrick O’Boyle, former CTO at Bamboo, and director of Engineering Deepak Baliga, former engineer at food-tech unicorn Flipdish. Yonder came from a shared frustration with the slow, siloed and paper-based processes of setting up employee benefits that didn’t resonate with them or their peers. The trio reunited and joined forces to modernise the entire process, and redefine how small businesses and their employees access health insurance and retirement benefits, globally. “Yonder is rebuilding the entire employee benefits experience.” said Luke Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO. 

ZeroMission

ZeroMission, the Clonmel based leading provider of an EV fleet management platform for commercial electric vehicles (EV’s), recently secured $3m investment to continue its growth and expansion strategy. The round was led by Delta Partners and Greencode Ventures. The business was founded in 2022 by Leah O’Dwyer and Kevin Christopher who bring a combined 30 years’ experience in the electric vehicle (EV) space with global companies including ChargePoint, Siemens and ABM. ZeroMission’s vision is to accelerate zero-emission vehicle adoption with smart and practical software solutions. 

Zerve

Zerve’s platform allows teams to collaborate and share their outputs more easily. Zerve’s cloud-based, serverless technology utilises a novel, stateful architecture to create a scalable, collaborative development environment. Zerve was co-founded in  2021, by college friends Phily Hayes (ex-LearnUpon and Deloitte) and Jason Hillary, PhD, Engineering, and later joined by Greg Michaelson, former Chief Customer Officer of DataRobot. Last year Zerve raised $3.8m in pre-seed funding to build a new architecture for data science and AI development.

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