Investment into Irish startups falls to €1.3bn – Tech Ireland

The fall in funding received by Irish start-ups in 2022 may be a signal of difficult times to come for early-stage companies, according to Tech Ireland’s latest startup funding review

The top 10 investments last year accounted for more than half of the overall funding. They included €226m into Irish fintech unicorn Wayflyer. File picture: Nick Bradshaw

The level of funding into Irish startups dropped to €1.3bn last year, compared to €1.6bn in the previous year, as companies battled a challenging economic environment, according to a new report.

The drop in funding in 2022 may also be a signal of difficult times to come for early-stage companies, Tech Ireland’s latest Startup Funding Review indicated.

“Global venture capital was down 30% last year compared to 2021, 20% in Europe, and 2023 is showing more of the same,” said Yoram Wijngaarde, CEO of Dealroom, which is a global database to identify and track promising companies.

In the past, Ireland has been successful at attracting high levels of overseas investment. As global investment eases, Irish tech funding could be at risk.

However, Irish and other European startups seemed to have weathered the economic storm better than some of their US counterparts.

US venture capital investment in the second half of last year plunged 54% compared to the same period a year earlier. During the same time, investment into European startups was down 25% compared to 2021.

The top 10 investments made last year accounted for more than half of the overall funding. These included €226m into Irish fintech unicorn Wayflyer, followed by €87.2m into unicorn in the food ordering space Flipdish and €66m into payments tracking company TransferMate Glabal Payments.

Meanwhile, for the first time, four companies from outside Dublin feature on the top 10 investment list, including Cork supply chain firm Keelvar.

Women-led firms recorded a marginally higher increase in investment compared to 2021 as 72 firms raised €234m last year, up from €230m in 2021. This is up from €105m raised in 2020.

However, funding into women-led startups continues to fall behind startups led by men.

Last year was a disappointing one for tech startups in the North as funding appears to have decreased substantially from €80m in 2021 to €50m. As in previous years, Belfast dominates with over 95% of the funding.