Last year, TechIreland published its Startup Funding Review on investing in Irish technology companies. Here are the findings:
advertisementFunding for Irish start-ups fell to €847 million from €1.6 billion in 2021 and €1.3 billion in 2022.
“While this is disappointing, it largely reflects broader trends as global startup funding fell by 38% last year. This is due to a decline in high late-stage rounds,” a TechIreland press release said. Said.
“On the positive side, a record 403 tech companies on the island were funded, with a 44% increase in the number of deals. This is a good indicator of the health of our ecosystem. Number of rounds The increase is due to an increase in the number of rounds, “from the seed round to the Series A round, which held up and the deal value increased from 1 million euros to 5 million euros,” he added.
On the other hand, the report states that growth capital in the global market is more expensive.
“TechIreland’s recent Pulse Survey said that Irish tech companies are experiencing falling valuations and this is their biggest challenge. Last year, the number of deals over €5 million rose to 28, up from 48 the year before. %, and the total investment amount decreased by 45%. ”
The report highlighted that the top 10 investments accounted for less than 45% of the total, a significant decrease compared to the previous year. Cork-based Everseen raised €65 million, followed by Belfast-based Weave and Dublin-based Okko, who each raised €60 million. Four companies from outside Dublin are in the top 10, including Tipperary’s Shola Oncology (€32m) and Galway-based Vivacure Medical (€30m).
“For the first time in 2023, investment in cleantech surpasses traditionally Irish top sectors healthtech, fintech and enterprise solutions to top the sector table. Capital flows to renewable energy increase While this is encouraging, there is a downside: Funding for healthtech, fintech and enterprise, which account for more than 60% of all technology companies on the island, has fallen by more than 50%, TechIreland said.
However, it pointed out that less than 30% of the funding was raised outside of Dublin, which was down on the previous year. The number of startups increased from 127 last year to 147, but the total amount raised fell to €222 million from €502 the previous year.
In response, John O’Dea, Chief Executive Officer of TechIreland, said: “Ireland’s startup ecosystem is highly supportive of early stage technologies. Building a strong pipeline. Significant work is being done by Enterprise Ireland, LEO, NDRC and HBAN to support this. But we also need to focus on developing homegrown growth funds that can support large businesses.”
Dealroom’s Orla Brown said the decline in Irish VC funding was broadly in line with levels across Europe, with a decline of just under 50% between the 2021 and 2023 peaks.
