Ireland’s ecosystem of women-led start-ups is showing extraordinary momentum across tech, sustainability, fintech, consumer goods and more.
From Dublin to Cork to Galway to Belfast, a new generation of women founders are scaling world-class companies, innovating in a vast array of fields.
As they gain traction it is clear that these are the women-led businesses that could shape Ireland’s future economy.
It is not all plain sailing, however. While Ireland saw a record number of female-founded companies raise investment in 2025, overall capital deployed into women-led firms slipped and the funding landscape became increasingly polarised, according to recent figures from TechIreland’s Female Founder Funding Review.
A total of 82 companies secured backing last year, compared with 48 in 2024. Despite this rise in activity, capital raised fell to €131m from €145m the previous year. Much of the decline stems from a contraction in mid‑sized seed and Series A rounds, which industry leaders say is weakening the ability of women-led firms to scale.
Inspired by the momentum of the recent International Women’s Day celebrations, this round-up spotlights the women-led start-ups breaking new ground.
&Open
&Open is a Dublin-based corporate gifting platform founded in 2017 by Ciara Flood, Jonathan Legge, and Mark Legge. The company aims to revolutionise corporate gifting by enabling brands to send high-quality, design-led, and responsibly sourced gifts at scale.
Operating in over 120 countries, &Open supports customer loyalty and engagement across sales, marketing, and customer experience teams.
The platform offers both digital and physical gifting options and launched its On-Demand service in 2022, allowing smaller businesses and emerging brands to access its gifting infrastructure. This expansion has helped &Open grow its team to over 90 employees across Ireland, the UK, and the US, with plans to open a New York office .
In terms of funding, &Open raised a $26 million Series A round in June 2022 led by Molten Ventures, bringing its total capital raised to $33.2 million. Previous investors include LocalGlobe, First Round Capital, Middlegame Ventures, and Silicon Valley Bank .
Alto Health
Founded in 2023 by Marita Kenrick and Xiao Zhang, Alto Health provides an AI-driven healthcare administration platform designed for specialist medical practices.
The platform’s core focus is to automate the processing of new patient referrals, which can accelerate referral-to treatment times.
This allows for faster triaging, scheduling and care planning and it proves a transparent and auditable evidence trail that allows for human oversight.
Alto Health raised €100,000 in seed funding last year.
Axonista
Founded in Dublin by Claire McHugh and Daragh Ward, Axonista specialises in interactive video tech for broadcasters and media companies.
Axonista is building the video-first future of shopping, and powers interactive video commerce for global brands including QVC, HSN, WaterBear, and Oxfam.
McHugh is a digital and future TV enthusiast and is a frequent speaker at global industry events about the future of television.
Boundless
Boundless is a Dublin-based HR and compliance platform founded by Dee Coakley and Emily Castles in 2019. It helps companies employ remote workers globally by managing payroll, taxes, and legal compliance.
The company handles HR compliance, payroll and benefits across multiple countries, solving a problem that has become increasingly common as the boundaries between work and location continue to blur.
The business was acquired in January by global employment platform Payoneer for an undisclosed sum.
Byowave
Based in Galway Byowave designs modular, accessible gaming controllers that adapt to different physical needs.
The business was founded in 2020 by Eibhlin O’Riordan and Brandon Blacoe and has raised funding form Enterprise Ireland and Hutchison 3G Ireland.
Its system lets players configure layouts, buttons, and grips to match comfort and mobility preferences, creating a personalized gaming experience. Byowave collaborates with the disability community to prioritize inclusive design and aims to reduce barriers to play, expanding access to mainstream titles and platforms through flexible hardware.
CergenX
Cork-based CergenX is a spin-out from the INFANT Centre at University College Cork, developing an AI-powered Newborn Brain Screener.
The device enables non-specialists to detect brain injury in newborns within 15 minutes, addressing a critical gap in early diagnosis.
Founded in 2021 by Jason Mowles, Prof. Geraldine Boylan, and Sean Griffin, CergenX has raised over €2m, including €1.2m in 2023. The funding supports team expansion and product development, with regulatory approval and pilot launches expected in 2025.
Ceroflo
Ceroflo, based in Galway, is pioneering a novel stent device to treat intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD), a major cause of stroke. The company last year raised €6.4m to fund a first-in-human clinical trial involving 30 patients. This funding includes €5m through the Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS) and €1.4m from prominent medtech entrepreneurs and global stroke experts.
Ceroflo’s SubMax Stent is designed to address the limitations of current pharmaceutical treatments, which leave patients with a 20% annual risk 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.
Chirp
Dublin-based AI start-up embedding child-protection software to detect grooming and cyberbullying. Focused on early intervention, psychological empowerment, and expanding across Ireland and UK with strong investor backing.
Chirp’s embedded software is designed to detect and block cyberbullying, grooming and self-harm content in real time, including within encrypted messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Snapchat and Instagram. The technology operates beneath the operating system layer, making it resistant to deletion or circumvention, and does not compromise user privacy.
“This is an Irish innovation with global potential,” said Rena Maycock, founder and CEO of Chirp. “We want every smartphone to come with built-in protection for children, just like every car comes with airbags.”
The business raised €4.4m in 2023 and recently embarked on a crowdfunding drive.
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.
Cozmotec
Cozmotec is a Dublin-based tech start-up founded by entrepreneur Cuty Gupta, a qualified dentist from India who transitioned into the technology sector after moving to Ireland.
Headquartered in Swords, Cozmotec focuses on empowering SMEs through tailored software solutions, smart automation, and business process optimisation. Gupta’s journey – from payroll specialist to director of Innovation and Technology at Icon Accounting – inspired her to launch Cozmotec to bridge the technology gap facing Irish SMEs.
The company operates with a globally distributed team, with software development largely based in India and business consulting led from Ireland. Cozmotec’s approach combines deep consultation with custom-built solutions, ensuring that each client’s unique challenges are addressed effectively.
CroíValve
CroíValve was co‑founded by Dr Martin Quinn and CEO Dr Lucy O’Keeffe, combining cardiology and biomedical engineering expertise to address tricuspid valve regurgitation.
CroíValve is developing a minimally invasive medical device to treat tricuspid regurgitation, a severe cardiac condition.
The company’s DUO Tricuspid Coaptation Valve system offers a non-surgical solution for elderly patients, who currently have limited treatment options due to surgical risks.
Cyberminds
Cyberminds is an Irish cybersecurity start-up that is transforming how cybersecurity education is delivered by making it accessible, engaging, and inclusive.
Led by founder and CEO Emer Mugisha, the company is pioneering a gamified mobile learning platform designed to democratise cybersecurity knowledge. By turning complex security concepts into interactive, game-like experiences, Cyberminds empowers users of all technical backgrounds to understand and apply cybersecurity best practices in their daily lives.
Founded with the mission to close the cybersecurity awareness gap, Cyberminds targets both individuals and organizations, offering scalable solutions that can be deployed across teams to improve cyber hygiene and reduce human error – one of the leading causes of security breaches. The platform is particularly valuable for SMEs and non-technical users who may lack access to traditional cybersecurity training.
Cyberminds’ approach is rooted in behavioral science and educational psychology, using microlearning, scenario-based challenges, and real-world simulations to reinforce learning outcomes. This method not only boosts retention but also encourages proactive security behavior.
EcoKinly
EcoKinly is a Wexford-based start-up founded by Kate Doyle that is challenging the €71bn global disposable nappy market with a simple proposition: reusable nappies that work like disposables.
The scale of the problem EcoKinly is addressing is staggering. According to the UN Environment Programme, more than 300,000 disposable nappies are incinerated, sent to landfill, or released into the environment every minute globally.
In Ireland alone, more than one million disposable nappies reach landfill daily, accounting for 10% of household residual waste – approximately 75,618 tonnes in 2022, according to EPA data.
EcoKinly’s core product, the Grab & Go Nappy, is designed to eliminate the complexity traditionally associated with cloth nappies.
“If you can use a disposable nappy, you can use an EcoKinly Grab & Go,” says Doyle. “There’s no folding or complicated systems – it’s one piece, one step, closes with velcro.”
The company has filed a patent for its design configuration and expanded beyond nappies to include starter kits, potty trainer pull-ups, wipes, swim nappies, and period products. All items are made from bamboo, cotton, hemp and recycled PUL, designed for hundreds of wash cycles in standard machines.
EquiTrace
EquiTrace is a Kildare-based equine health technology company founded in 2019 by Dr Jennifer Corley, Dr Kevin Corley, and Paul Hayton. The company was born out of the founders’ frustration with paper-based systems in veterinary practice and aims to digitise horse healthcare through a mobile-first platform that simplifies identification, medication tracking, and welfare management.
EquiTrace’s app works with any microchip scanner and smartphone, enabling vets and trainers to instantly access a horse’s medical records, GPS location, and treatment history. It also integrates with bio-thermo microchips for contactless temperature monitoring and serves as a digital passport for horses, streamlining compliance and traceability in an industry where animals frequently travel across borders.
In October 2021, EquiTrace raised €1.25 million in seed funding, with HBAN and Enterprise Ireland as lead investors. The funding supported product development and international expansion, including a strategic partnership with Merck Animal Health in the U.S. The company also launched an integration with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), helping racehorse trainers comply with new medication reporting regulations.
Examfly
Founded in 2019 by Deirdre Lyons, Examfly is a Dublin-based edtech startup transforming professional exam prep through interactive, gamified learning. Focused on tax and accounting qualifications, it has raised €2m to date, including a €1.5m seed round in 2024 led by Brian Caulfield.
Backed by Dogpatch Labs and Enterprise Ireland, Examfly serves major professional services firms and is expanding into the UK. Lyons’ background in law and tax inspired the platform’s learner-first approach.
Foxes Bow Whiskey
Foxes Bow Whiskey was founded by Alice Carroll and Tony Foote, who set out to modernise Irish whiskey with bold design and contemporary flavour.
Their blended Irish whiskey—aged in Bourbon barrels and finished in Oloroso and Rye casks – has expanded rapidly, securing listings with Tesco and SuperValu and entering the US through MHW and Green Light Distributors.
The brand has grown to 200+ stockists across seven countries and continues to push a more accessible, youthful approach to whiskey culture.
Glitch
Dublin-based tech start-up Glitch recently raised €2m in seed funding to accelerate its international expansion and enhance its AI-powered platform for B2B marketers.
Founded by Aisling Browne and Kingsley Kelly, Glitch offers an automated solution for digital campaign setup, targeting, budget allocation, and optimisation. The platform is designed to support lean marketing teams and boutique agencies by reducing the time and complexity involved in managing performance advertising.
The company’s technology delivers detailed reporting on audience engagement, copy effectiveness, and keyword performance. According to Glitch, early users have seen a fivefold increase in conversion rates, a 9 per cent lift in click-through rates, and a 30 per cent reduction in cost per acquisition.
Glitch emerged from Dogpatch Labs’ Founders accelerator programme, where Browne and Kelly connected over a shared ambition to simplify B2B advertising. The platform is now used by clients including Protex AI, Web Summit, We Are Riley, Mango Media, and Squid Loyalty.
HomeBot
When Clara Mulligan watched her elderly father-in-law struggle weekly with his heavy lawnmower, she saw more than just a personal challenge – she identified a market opportunity that would eventually lead to HomeBot Ireland, the country’s newest player in the smart home robotics space.
HomeBot Ireland’s product line addresses both indoor and outdoor maintenance needs. “HomeBot delivers a customer-first, Irish-designed alternative in the home robotics space,” Mulligan told ThinkBusiness. “Our wireless robotic lawnmowers and robot vacuum & mop systems are specifically designed with Irish homes and families in mind.”
The company’s robot vacuum and mop collection spans from compact models perfect for entry-level customers to advanced systems with self-emptying, self-cleaning, and self-refilling features. “Our robots cater for all floor surfaces, pet hair and levels of dirt,” Mulligan says, emphasising the comprehensive cleaning solutions available across different budgets.
For outdoor maintenance, HomeBot offers both wire-free models for easy setup and wired options for larger gardens. The product line includes accessories like rain shelters and spare parts to enhance durability and performance.
The business recently landed a national retail partnership with Euronics Ireland that will place its smart home robots and lawn-care devices in more than 60 stores across the country.
Hotel & Spa Resorts
Founded by Adrienne Stewart, Hotel and Spa Resorts.com is a one-year-old Irish start-up that has grown from 25 hotels in Ireland to over 10,000 hotels across 75+ countries – expansion the founders credit almost entirely to their bespoke GPT.
By using AI to perform the work of a CMO, CFO and Business Consultant, the company estimates it has saved over €250,000 in salaries in its first year.
JustTip
JustTip is a fast-growing Irish fintech startup revolutionising the way tips are collected and distributed in the hospitality, charity, and service sectors.
Founded in 2021 by James Fahy (CEO) and Ciara Walsh (CMO), the company was born out of a simple realisation: the decline of cash usage was leaving service workers without tips. The duo, then just 19 years old, developed a contactless tipping platform that allows customers to tip directly via QR codes or tap-to-pay terminals, ensuring transparency and fairness.
The platform bypasses employers entirely—tips are pooled and distributed weekly to employees’ bank accounts, aligning with new legislation in Ireland and the UK that mandates transparency in gratuity distribution. JustTip’s system is now used by over 600 merchants and 13,000 employees across Europe and the UK.
In December 2024, JustTip raised €1.1m in a funding round led by ComOp Ventures and Enterprise Ireland, bringing its total funding to €2.1m. The investment is being used to expand operations in the UK, enhance product innovation, and grow the team.
The company has received multiple accolades, including “FS Challenger of the Year” and “National Start-up of the Year,” and was named a finalist in The Irish Times Innovation Awards.
With offices in Dublin and Manchester, JustTip is positioning itself as a leader in digital tipping and micro-payments, offering a scalable solution that meets the evolving needs of a cashless economy.
Jentic
Founded in 2024 by an Irish team of tech veterans including Dorothy Creaven, Sean Blanchfield, Michael Cordner and Dr Tilman Schaefer, Jentic is focused on creating an integration layer for AI.
The business has raised €4m in seed funding in a round led by Elkstone, with participation from Sure Valley Ventures.
Its technology streamlines API integration for AI agents, automatically matching them with optimal tools as they execute tasks. For executives, it provides centralised oversight of agent operations across the organisation, enabling monitoring, security management and access control.
Joii
Based in Dublin, Joii is an Irish fembtech business led by Justyna Strzeszynska.
The company has created a patented, AI-powered menstrual health app that works with specialised smart pads to analyse blood volume and clot size.
It’s mission is to provide quantifiable science to boost menstrual health management.
The business has raised significant funding from sources that include the EU EIT Digital as Enterprise Ireland.
Konree Innovation
Led by Margaret Rae, Konree Innovation is a marine deep-tech company focused on developing technology that facilitates sustainable growth in salmon production by overcoming barriers in an environmentally conscious manner.
Based at Atlantic Technological University in Galway’s iHubs, the business is developing a deeptech solution to reliably manage and control sea lice in salmon aquaculture. Konree’s USP is that it will offer an active “drop-in solution” so there is no requirement for their salmon producer customers to add further infrastructure to effectively control sea lice in a sustainable way. While Konree’s target markets are global, the initial focus is on Ireland, Scotland and Norway.
Margaret won one of the inaugural EIC WomenTechEU awards for Deep Tech innovation in 2021/2022 and Konree was nominated for BIM’s Aquatech Company of the Year in 2023 as well as been named as one of the Business Post’s Ireland’s Hot Top 100 Start Ups in 2024.
Konvi
Konvi is a fintech platform that enables fractional access to alternative assets.
Dublin-based Konvi, co‑founded by Eran Peer and Ioana Surdu‑Bob, democratises access to luxury alternative assets through fractional investment.
By pooling demand and handling compliance, Konvi helps qualified customers participate in categories traditionally reserved for institutions or high‑net‑worth investors. The platform emphasizes transparency on fees and risk, structured offerings, and streamlined digital onboarding. Konvi’s aim is to broaden access to diversified opportunities with responsible, compliant tooling.
Lative
Lative is a sales performance, efficiency and planning software startup that helps B2B revenue teams automate the sales planning and execution process.
Established in 2022 by Werner Schmidt and Laura Tortosa Sancho, and headquartered in Dublin, Lative connects top-down revenue plans and targets with bottoms-up performance and costs, empowering companies to boost sales productivity, maximise every dollar spent and plan with purpose and precision.
In 2024 the business raised $3m in seed funding in a round led by Elkstone Ventures.
Linda AI
Linda AI was founded by sisters India and Portia Healy O’Connor, joined by CTO Lucio Tudisco, to bring automated voice‑AI agents to dental clinics.
Their platform reduces missed calls, boosts bookings, and integrates directly with practice‑management systems to handle scheduling, confirmations, and rescheduling. With strong adoption across Ireland and the UK, Linda AI helps clinics improve efficiency and patient access.
In February the business raised €2.6 million in pre‑seed funding as the sector looks for new ways to manage rising patient volumes and overstretched front‑desk tea
The company was founded by sisters India and Portia Healy O’Connor, both former Goldman Sachs sales and trading specialists who grew up around their father’s medical practice.
Lios
Formerly known as Restored Hearing, Lios was founded by Rhona Togher and Eimear O’Carroll.
The duo started the business while in secondary school after creating a sound therapy solyution for tinnitus.
Lios has since created SoundBounce, an advanced acoustic material that outperforms traditional sound dampening solutions. The technology has applications across transport, home appliances, power generation, and construction industries.
The business was among 40 companies selected from 959 firms across 16 countries for the EU’s highly competitive Horizon Europe EIC accelerator programme.
LiveDuel
LiveDuel is a Cork-based sports and esports technology start-up founded in 2021 by Laura Bosazzi, Will Martin and Alex Djordjevic.
The company is building a decentralided prediction market platform for sports betting, leveraging blockchain and DeFi technologies to create a user-first experience. Unlike traditional sportsbooks, LiveDuel operates like an exchange, allowing users to bet against each other rather than the house, with a simplified interface designed for digital natives.
LiveDuel has raised €250,000 in funding to date and is currently closing a $2.5 million (€2.3 million) round to support its product launch and expansion. It was previously selected for the Techstars Launchpool Web3 Accelerator, which provided early-stage support and validation.
Luna Systems
Led by Maria Diviney and Andrew Fleury, Luna Systems creates sensing and data platforms that translate complex physical environments into usable operational intelligence.
Luna Systems is a Dublin-based company developing AI‑powered safety technology for cyclists and motorcyclists.
Backed by a €1.5m late‑seed round, it is launching its first hardware products, including a dual AI camera system for manufacturers and a consumer rear‑facing camera with app integration. Its mission is to boost rider confidence and reduce road‑safety risks through advanced vision AI.
Micron Agritech
Micron Agritech, a spin-out from Technological University Dublin, is an Irish agritech start-up revolutionising animal health diagnostics through AI.
Founded in 2019 by Daniel Izquierdo, Tara McElligott, Sean Smith, and Jose Lopez while they were students, the company developed the Micron Kit, a portable, smartphone-compatible device that enables rapid, on-site parasite testing for livestock. This innovation addresses a critical issue in agriculture: the overuse of anti-parasitic treatments, which has led to rising medication resistance.
The Micron Kit delivers results in minutes, bypassing the traditional five-day lab turnaround. This empowers vets and farmers to make data-driven decisions, reducing unnecessary treatments and improving animal welfare and productivity. The company’s mission aligns with evolving EU regulations that restrict prophylactic antibiotic use in farming.
Micron Agritech has raised over €5 million to date. Its most recent funding round in September 2023 secured €2.7 million, co-led by ACT Venture Capital, Atlantic Bridge, and The Yield Lab Europe. Earlier funding included a €500,000 seed round in 2020 and a grant from Menai Science Park in 2021. The company is targeting expansion across Ireland and the UK, with ambitions to become the “LetsGetChecked of animal testing”.
Mobility Mojo
Mobility Mojo is a Dublin-based accessibility technology company founded by Noelle Daly, Stephen Cluskey and Patrick Hickey focused on helping organisations assess and improve workplace accessibility through a digital, data-driven platform.
Serving over 1,500 buildings and one million employees globally, it has grown 63% amid rising demand driven by the EU Accessibility Act.
The company plans to expand internationally and enhance its AI‑powered accessibility insights.
MyGug
MyGug is a Clonakilty, Co. Cork-based greentech start-up founded in 2021 by Fiona Kelleher and Kieran Coffey. The company has developed a micro-scale anaerobic digester that transforms food waste into renewable cooking gas and nutrient-rich fertiliser, offering a circular economy solution for homes, schools, and small food businesses.
The egg-shaped MyGug unit is designed and manufactured in Ireland and uses anaerobic digestion to convert up to 5.5kg of food waste into 20+ hours of cooking energy per week. It also produces a liquid fertiliser suitable for gardening and agriculture. The system is non-invasive, easy to install, and visually appealing, helping shift perceptions of food waste from burden to resource.
In March 2024, MyGug raised €900,000 in seed funding, led by Business Venture Partners (BVP) with participation from Enterprise Ireland. The funding is being used to scale operations, expand into the UK and Germany, and develop educational modules to accompany the technology. MyGug is also a High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) supported by Enterprise Ireland.
The company has installed units in educational institutions like Airfield Estate in Dublin, showcasing its impact on sustainability education and climate action. MyGug was also a winner in the Sustainability category at The Irish Times Innovation Awards, further validating its environmental and commercial potential.
My Moves Matter
Digital health business My Moves Matter was founded by CEO Richelle Flanagan, a registered dietician with more than 20 years’ experience, and CTO Rene Reinbacher.
Diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s disease after the birth of her daughter, Flanagan was inspired to create a digital health app that helps women track their Parkinson’s symptms across their menstrual cycles to improve personalised treatment.
Neurobell
NeuroBell was co‑founded by Dr Alison O’Shea, Dr Mark O’Sullivan and Colm Murphy, in 2023. It is focused on developing AI‑enabled neonatal brain monitoring technology.
Neurobell is a medtech company developing neonatal monitoring solutions to detect critical neurological events early, particularly seizures that are difficult to recognize clinically. Its technology aims to provide automated, reliable detection at the cot‑side, enabling faster intervention and improved outcomes. Neurobell collaborates with clinicians to validate accuracy and usability, focusing on integrating into neonatal workflows with minimal disruption.
Mark O’Sullivan, CEO and co-founder NeuroBell, was named Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) Founder of the Year for 2025.
Nocomed
Nocomed was co‑founded by Rosemary Durcan and Dónal Adams to help healthcare and life‑sciences organisations measure, report, and reduce supply‑chain emissions.
Built from Dogpatch Labs’ Founders Talent programme, the platform automates data collection and aligns with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
With €650k seed funding, Nocomed enables suppliers to build auditable baselines and take practical steps toward meaningful emissions reduction.
Ocras
Ocras, which produces frozen meals for people with swallowing difficulties, received the Best Pitch Award for its compelling presentation at the recent Prep4Seed Investor Day in Dublin.
The company’s product are designed to improve wellbeing, especially for those with swallowing or chewing difficulties.
Ocras was founded by Niamh Condon, a dysphagia chef, and Siobhan McNulty, an expert in financial management after sharing their frustration at the limited options available for people with swallowing and chewing challenges.
Otonomee
Otonomee is a Cork-based remote-first outsourcing firm providing customer service operations for global clients.
Led by Aidan and Hilary O’Shea, the B-Corp certified business raised $1.6 million in a seed round led by Martello Group in 2023. It is understood to have surpassed revenues of $20 million.
Founded 2021 on the premise that the traditional call centre model was broken, the remote-first business is scaling to 500+ staff, backed by Enterprise Ireland. It is targeting a US expansion with €2m funding plans.
Payslip
Payslip is a Westport, County Mayo-based fintech company specialising in global payroll automation. Founded in 2016 by Fidelma McGuirk, a former international tax and finance executive, Payslip was born out of her vision to simplify and standardise payroll operations for multinational companies. McGuirk, who relocated to Mayo for a better lifestyle, identified a gap in the market for scalable, cloud-based payroll solutions that could meet the demands of globally distributed workforces.
Payslip’s Global Payroll Control Platform enables companies to automate, integrate, and manage multi-country payroll processes through a single SaaS interface. The platform supports compliance, enhances visibility, and reduces manual errors, making it a preferred choice for global firms like Airbus, LogMeIn, Cloudera, and Kirby Group.
The company has raised over €14m in funding to date. In 2021, it secured €8.3m in a Series A extension round led by MiddleGame Ventures, with participation from Mouro Capital, Frontline Ventures, Tribal.vc, and angel investors including David Clarke, former CTO of Workday. This followed earlier rounds totaling €6m, including backing from Enterprise Ireland and AIB.
Payslip has used this capital to expand its team, enhance its AI capabilities, and scale operations to over 60 countries. In 2025, it was recognised as one of Ireland’s top fintechs to watch, reflecting its growing influence in the global payroll tech space.
Peri
Peri uses AI enabled technology to personalise the management of menopausal symptoms.
The Peri, a wearable device helps users regularly update how they are affected by their symptoms and provides insights to guide women toward a personalised management plan.
The CEO of Peri Heidi Davis was awarded the accolade Enterprise Ireland’s High-Potential Start-Up (HPSU) Founder of the Year for 2024.
Novus Diagnostics
Novus Diagnostics builds rapid diagnostic technologies that bring reliable testing closer to point‑of‑care settings.
The business is led by life sciences industry veteran, Keith O’Neill, working alongside the co-inventors of the SepTec technology, and co-founders of the company, Elaine Spain (Chief Operating Officer) and Kellie Adamson (Chief Scientific Officer)
The business raised €5m in 2022 to commercialise SepTec, the company’s revolutionary testing platform capable of analysing blood samples and delivering a diagnosis of blood stream infection in just 15 minutes.
The technology, which is small enough to fit on a bedside table, represents something of a game-changer in the diagnosis of a condition that kills around 11m people around the world every year. The 15-minute wait time is a fraction of the time taken by current diagnostic testing. In addition to the rapid turnaround time, the test can also classify the type of infection the patient has.
Peroptyx
Co-founded in 2018 by Dennis Jennings, Maeve Bleahene, Paul McBride and Pat Jones, Peroptyx is a Castlebar‑based machine learning firm specialising in location‑based training data and model evaluation for global tech brands.
The platform supports machine learning teams with scalable, high-quality training data solutions.
Chaired by Irish internet pioneer Dennis Jennings, the company raised a €1.6 million seed round in July 2023 led by Western Development Commission. Earlier, in April 2021, it secured €1.7 million in funding. The platform also offers integrated simulators and performance analytics to support real‑world AI deployments.
Positive Carbon
Aisling Kirwan is the co-founder and COO of Positive Carbon, which provides food waste data to commercial kitchens to enable them to cut their food waste in half, reduce waste collections and reach sustainability goals.
With a BSc in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from Trinity College Dublin, Aisling had been working in the food waste sector for over eight years across Ireland, the UK, Australia, and Chile before establishing Positive Carbon with her former colleague, Mark Kirwan in 2020.
“Every year, one third of all food we produce goes into the bin, that equates to 1.3bn tonnes of food, costing the economy $1trn and contributing to 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions” says Aisling. “Food waste is a global problem, and we plan to be a global company that makes a tangible difference.”
Spellings for Me
Spellings for Me, a personalised spelling education platform originally designed for Irish primary schools, recently launched Version 2 of its system, expanding its reach to international schools across 25 countries.
The upgraded platform, developed in collaboration with technology partner TEKenable, uses artificial intelligence to provide personalised learning experiences tailored to individual student needs.
The platform now serves over 90,000 pupils annually, with significant growth following the launch of its enhanced version.
Founded by teachers Paddy and Emma Grace, who have experience in learning support and EAL instruction, Spellings for Me was inspired by the work of Brendan Colligan, an advocate of individualised spelling instruction for over 30 years.
Squid Loyalty
Squid Loyalty founders Katie Farrell and Matthew Coffey are focused on a problem that is confounding businesses. That problem is engagement in loyalty programmes.
Squid Rewards is a customer‑loyalty and engagement platform for bricks‑an‑mortar retailers and hospitality. The system digitises stamp cards and rewards, enabling businesses to incentivize repeat visits and increase average spend. Squid provides customer insights, segmentation, and campaign tools while keeping the experience simple for end users. The focus is on cost‑effective loyalty that works for independent and multi‑site operators.
StimOxyGen
StimOxyGen was co‑founded by Sian Farrell, Prof Anthony McHale, Prof John Callan, and Dr Leslie Russell, creating oxygen‑releasing nanoparticles for cancer therapy.
The life sciences company develops oxygenation‑focused therapeutics and delivery technologies. Its platform aims to improve the microenvironment within diseased tissues to enhance treatment responsiveness.
By combining novel formulations with targeted delivery, StimOxyGen seeks to address conditions where hypoxia limits therapy effectiveness. The company prioritizes translational research, safety, and partnerships that can accelerate progress toward clinical impact.
The business raised €1.7m in funding last year.
SymPhysis Medical
Galway-based SymPhysis Medical is developing a patient-centric device called Releaze to treat malignant pleural effusion, a condition affecting around 50% of late-stage cancer patients. The device allows patients to manage fluid buildup in the chest at home, reducing hospital visits and improving quality of life.
Founded by Tim Jones and Dr. Michelle Tierney, the company has raised over €5.6m to date, including €1.9m in 2022 and €1.5m in 2023. SymPhysis is targeting FDA approval and a US market launch, with ambitions to raise an additional €4.5m to support expansion and regulatory milestones.
Tailr
Tailr builds AI tools that turn messy e‑commerce product data into clean, consistent, and shoppable catalogues.
Founded by Shana Chu, the platform automates attribute enrichment, size and fit normalisation, and taxonomy alignment, improving search, recommendations, and conversion rates.
Tailr’s cloud-based SaaS platform addresses the inefficiencies and challenges faced by the clothing industry, enabling real-time data flow between design teams, fabric mills, and factories.
The platform streamlines production processes, ensuring consistent sizing across fabrics, cuts and seasons while supporting clothing brands in achieving their sustainability goals.
Vertigenius
Founded by vestibular expert Dr Dara Meldrum, Vertigenius aims to improve the delivery of care to people suffering from vertigo.
The Trinity College Dublin spinout has developed a wearable head sensor and software that allows therapists to prescribe and track exercises carried out by patients, monitor patient symptoms and therefore gain insights into the effectiveness of treatments.
In 2024 the business raised €2.1m in seed funding to power the firm’s expansion to the US and UK.
VOYA
Co-founded by husband and wife team Mark and Kira Walton in Strandhill, Co Sligo, VOYA is an Irish seaweed-based skincare business.
VOYA creates sustainable, seaweed‑based wellness products inspired by coastal environments.
The company focuses on natural formulations, ethical sourcing, and gentle manufacturing processes. Its range spans skincare and spa experiences designed to nourish and protect. Voya partners with hospitality and retailers to deliver premium, eco‑conscious offerings.
Now available in 50 countries worldwide, the brand’s mission blends ocean stewardship with high‑quality, sensorial self‑care.
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