Dozens of start-ups across the island and across sectors announced successful funding rounds throughout the year.
Irish start-ups saw a surge in funding at the beginning of the year led by a few major funding rounds. And though the value declined in the following quarter, according to data from KPMG, fintechs still performed surprisingly well.
Still funding issues persist according to an Ibec survey from earlier this year, which found that more than 25pc of founders pointed to access to funding as a key challenge to company growth.
Other issues included administrative red tape and complex tax incentives.
Despite the challenges, SiliconRepublic.com covered dozens of successful start-up funding rounds just this year. And as the year comes to a close, we have put together a list of some notable ones.
Fire1
January started off with a blast with Dublin medtech Fire1 raising $120m led by Polaris Partners and Elevage Medical Technologies.
The round also saw participation from new investors Sands Capital and Longitude Capital, as well as existing investors including Andera Partners, Medtronic and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.
Alongside the raise, Fire1 announced that it received the ‘Breakthrough Device Designation’ from the US Food and Drugs Administration for its flagship Norm heart failure management system. The company said that the fresh funding will help it complete its clinical trial for the system.
Xocean
Soon after, Louth-based ocean data company Xocean announced a €115m raise, with the support of S2G Ventures, Climate Investment, Morgan Stanley’s 1GT fund and an affiliate of the Crown Family’s CC Industries.
Founded in 2017 by James Ives, with locations in Ireland, the UK, Canada, Norway, Australia and the US, Xocean develops uncrewed surface vessels capable of remaining offshore for extended periods of time to map and monitor the marine environment and collect large quantities of ocean data. Operators and data analysts connect with the vessels via satellite link while staying safe onshore.
Xocean said the investment will be used to expand the platform, with particular focus on emerging blue economy sectors, such as offshore energy and civil hydrography.
Tines
Irish no-code automation start-up Tines joined the unicorn league in February after announcing a $125m raise.
The Series C raise was led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives with participation from new investors SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Activant, as well as existing investors Accel, Felicis, CrowdStrike Falcon Fund and Addition.
Tines said that the new investment will help the company accelerate product innovation focused on connecting AI and large language models with the data and systems its clients require to perform tasks with higher efficiency and effectiveness.
Output Sports
Meanwhile NovaUCD-headquartered sports technology company Output Sports closed a $4.8m pre-A funding round, with investors including Athlete-led, Apex Capital, European Deep Tech Investor, Uni.Fund and Dopamine Sports.
Existing investors Elkstone, Atlantic Bridge and Enterprise Ireland also made contributions.
Output Sports creates smart, wearable technologies to capture and analyse performance data, which has been utilised by sporting professionals in more than 800 sports organisations including in the English premier league, NFL, MLB, Women’s NBA and the PGA Tour.
With the raise, the company is eyeing further expansion into the US after having opened a Boston-based office the year prior.
Cloudsmith
Early March saw Northern Irish software company Cloudsmith announcing a $23 Series B round led by TCV with participation from Insight Partners and existing investors.
Founded in 2016 by Lee Skillen and Alan Carson, Cloudsmith helps businesses manage software on the cloud.
The company said that the oversubscribed round will enable it to expand its engineering, product, sales, marketing and customer service teams as well as invest in AI research and development.
Perfuze
Meanwhile Galway medtech Perfuze also announced a successful €22m raise in March in a follow-on funding round led by existing investors including Earlybird, EQT Life Sciences, Seroba and SV Health.
The medtech develops innovative catheter-based aspiration technology to treat acute ischemic stroke which occurs when a blockage cuts off blood supply to parts of the brain, killing brain cells.
Perfuze said that the additional infusion will help support a limited market release of its two flagship catheters in select comprehensive stroke centres in the US.
Alt21
Dublin-based Alt21 secured $12.5m in an oversubscribed Series A funding round from a network of super angel investors.
Launched in 2016 by former financial derivatives trader Barry McCarthy, the company offers a digital hedging platform to help companies protect themselves against currency risks.
The latest funding, the company said, will be used to accelerate its global expansion, scale its go-to-market strategy by growing its sales and marketing teams and develop new products beyond FX.
Manna
Also in March, Irish drone delivery company Manna announced that it raised $30m in a round led by Tapestry VC and Molten Ventures, with participation from Coca-Cola, Dynamo Ventures and others.
The 2018-founded company’s aim is to disrupt the food delivery space using drones to eliminate the need for human drivers and reduce carbon emissions.
The latest funding has allowed the company to accelerate its drone delivery mission, and the company is slowly expanding its horizons, having recently applied to establish a new aerial food delivery hub for Dublin’s Dundrum area.
Neurovalens
Belfast-based non-invasive neuro-tech specialist Neurovalens secured £6m this August in a funding round led by Investment Fund for Northern Ireland.
Two of the start-up’s products are FDA approved: the ‘Modius Sleep’ device which treats insomnia and the ‘Modius Calm’ device for managing anxiety. Both devices are currently available for purchase in the US.
Neurovalens said that the investment will support the its commercial expansion across the US and global healthcare markets.
Meta-Flux
Moving forward a few months, Dublin-based biotech Meta-Flux announced a €1.8m raise for its AI-powered platform designed to conduct disease simulations in drug development.
The round was backed by senior executives from Pfizer, Merck and Gilead Sciences, along with tech leaders from Google, Amazon and Indeed.
Speaking with SiliconRepublic.com, CEO and immunologist Lee Sherlock said that using AI to develop drugs is a large field involving a multitude of complex questions. Meta-Flux is attempting to tackle specific segments of a larger problem, he said
“The goal isn’t that we get more drugs to market – it’s that we get more accuracy on the drugs that we do bring to market.”
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