👩💻 Mná na teicneolaíochta
March saw increases in female funding, a huge Irish exit, the entrance of a significant start-up, and European adoption of new big tech competition laws
Welcome to the 11th edition of “The Land of Saints, Scholars, and Techies”!
Check out the stories below that you might have missed in March!
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The Stories
Females on the rise ♀️ Funding for female-founded companies in Ireland more than doubled through 2021 compared to 2020. Across the year 55 companies in the Republic of Ireland raised €230 million. This is great to see but there is certainly more to be done to improve the investment climate for females in Ireland
Women-led businesses still only accounted for 13% of total funding demonstrating that while it is improving there is still scope for more
There is a need for increased female representation in venture capital to drive this investment with only 20% of partners in venture being female
The €230m is heavily influenced by some big rounds for Nuritas and 7 others raising over €10m with some concern about the lack of smaller funding rounds
Global Shares acquired 💸 Cork-based Global Shares was acquired by JP Morgan in March for €665 million. Global Shares develops software and technology that makes it easier to set up and run employee share ownership schemes. This huge exit comes on the back of a couple of newly minted unicorns and demonstrates that Irish companies can achieve significant scale and valuation as well as making some people very happy
As Irish companies grow in value employee ownership and the realisation of value will only grow in importance to renew the ecosystem - check out Finn Murphy’s piece
This exit shows that Irish companies based outside of the urban hubs can thrive and reach a global audience with the right talent and supports
Expect to see some new money enter the market and exciting start-ups emerge from Cork
Clearco comes to play ⚠️ Hot on the heels of achieving their Unicorn status Wayflyer has one of their main competitors in their own backyard. Clearco announced plans for €100m investment in Irish companies through its “revenue-based financing model” as well as the hiring of more than 100 staff as it seeks to target the Irish and wider European markets.
Clearco’s belief that the Irish market is underserved when it comes to alternative financing may be true and so this €100m injection should spark some companies’ growth
Wayflyer will need to continue to scale rapidly given the new local competition with very deep pockets thanks to Softbank
The arrival of Clearco demonstrates that Ireland continues to hold its position as a landing zone of choice for many FDI companies looking to expand in Europe
Buymie targets Britain 🛒 Irish start-up Buymie expanded its reach in Britain by announcing a new trial with Asda to roll out in Leeds and Bristol. This is a continuation for the company in looking to unlock a market 10x that of Ireland. I would imagine the company to be valued at far more than the €15 million of their last funding round
The pandemic created a real tailwind for this business and it will be interesting to see how this continues as we move forward.
The ambitious plan for presence in more than 200 locations shows that Buymie are not satisfied with being the provider of choice in Ireland and have much grander plans as they look to take a slice of a market set for significant growth
Stripe and Crypto ₿Ξ Stripe announced in March they would be once more looking to offer solutions to support cryptocurrency. It is a change of mind having pulled away from the space in the past but represents a huge move in increasing the functionality of crypto for day-to-day use.
As the poster boys for Irish tech, this only continues their ascent to become one of the most significant technology companies in the world.
An eventual Stripe IPO will have significant ripples in the Irish market as cash and skills will enter the market powering a new generation of companies
E-bikes by the seaside 🛵 Zipp Mobility announced an e-bike pilot scheme to be based in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Dublin. This is the start of a play for market dominance across micro-mobility as Irish and international players jostle for dominance and await the Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021 to pass into law.
The challenge of “vehicle litter” will be one to keep an eye on as these pilots and full launches continue and may make or break their success
Irish cities and councils are increasingly considering the urban design and the future of cities with ideas of sustainability, commuting, energy, and more in mind. It will be interesting to see what companies emerge in this space in the coming years
Digital Markets Act 📝 European policymakers agreed on the terms of strict new rules targeting the world’s largest technology companies under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) — which aims to boost interoperability and improve competition.
With Europe looking to tackle these “gatekeeper” companies, there may be opportunities for Irish companies and other start-ups to emerge from the forest floor
With Ireland as the legal “country of origin” for many of these companies, it will be interesting to see how this plays politically and economically
The Digital Services Act will be observed keenly and is expected to be more contentious as it looks to make companies responsible for more effective policing of misinformation and disinformation as well as holding them accountable for their algorithms
Funding 💰 March saw Irish companies continue to access the money that is in the market at the moment from varying sources.
We saw big funding rounds from Phorest, Getvisibility, Woebot, Glofox, Open for Vintage, and Evercam alongside smaller raises from Drive Inc, Causeway, Photo Phonics, Retinize amongst others. Finally, we saw Usain Bolt join Irish e-sports company Wylde as co-owner - an Olympic champion as part of your leadership group must be a good thing.
Hopefully, in the coming months and years, we will see these companies put this money to work and continue to grow.
Jobs 👔 March saw a number of job announcements across Irish and international companies.
If there are any roles/ job announcements you would like me to share in the next edition feel free to reach out.
Coming Soon…
Filter Keep an eye on your inbox for the first company profile from The Land. This month, I spoke with Stephen Keenan who is the founder of Filter. Filter is a company focused on helping people suffering from chronic illnesses through access to ongoing data and a targeted support community. They have run a number of betas and are now taking part in the NDRC as they look to prove PMF and scale. We had a great conversation about the company and offering, their ambitions for the future, and the Irish start-up ecosystem as a whole.
Stephen reached out to me as a subscriber and I would love to connect with others so do feel free to message me.
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My Story and The Land’s Background
👋 To quickly introduce myself to anyone new … My name is Seán. I am in my late 20s, I was born and raised largely in Dublin so apologies if my capital bias may sometimes show up.
I work in a start-up within the tech industry and believe that the Irish market and ecosystem is a dynamic one for such a small country. With COVID and too much time on my hands, I decided to create this newsletter to capture the biggest stories and provide some commentary and thoughts of my own.
Thank you for taking some time out of your busy lives to read!
💬 Contact me: thelandsst@gmail.com
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Cheers,
Seán