Start-up formations rise 14% despite economic volatility

Christine Cullen, managing director of CRIFVision-Net, said: 'The eight per cent dip in first-time directors indicates a slightly more cautious approach from new individuals entering the market.'

Despite rising economic volatility, the number of new start-ups formed in the first three months of this year increased by 14%, compared to the same period in 2025, driven by high growth areas such as computing and manufacturing, new data from the CRIFVision-Net shows.

Between January and March this year, 7,263 new businesses were registered. Year-on-year, high growth sectors such as computing and manufacturing drove start-up growth increasing 63% and 46% respectively.

The construction sector, which is benefiting from increasing housing and infrastructure spending, saw start-up formation increase by 32%. The number of community and personal service start-ups also increased 23.1% while financial service start-ups increased by 6.5%.

In volume terms, professional services, in legal, accounting and business saw the highest number of start-ups, totaling 1,327 during the three-month period. Although this represents a 1.3% decrease year-on-year.

Dublin led in overall volume of new business registrations, accounting for 2,096 start-ups and recording year-on-year growth of approximately 17.7%. Cork recorded 736 start-ups, an increase of 16.6% and Limerick recorded 262 new start-ups, up 18%.

The largest percentage increase was seen in Kildare at 39% with 337 new start-ups formed.

“These figures indicate that while Dublin remains the primary hub for business formation, strong growth is also evident across key regional and commuter-belt counties,” the company said.

“January was the busiest month for new company start-ups in the quarter, continuing the trend seen in previous years of a strong start to the calendar year.” 

Managing director of CRIFVision-Net, Christine Cullen, said despite some challenges the “continued strength in start-up activity across sectors and regions suggests that the Irish business community remains dynamic and forward-looking”.

“This balance between opportunity and pressure will be a defining feature of the economic landscape in the months ahead.” 

Complex economic landscape

However, Ms Cullen warned that the economic landscape “remains complex” while the increasing volume and value of commercial judgments “suggests a cooling in high-value debt recoveries”.

“The eight per cent dip in first-time directors indicates a slightly more cautious approach from new individuals entering the market. When coupled with the increase in insolvencies, it is clear that many businesses are still navigating significant financial strain,” Ms Cullen added.

The data also shows that commercial judgments were down 11% in volume terms and down 44% in value terms. In addition, the number of first-time directors was also down 8% to 8,126.

“This suggests that while established sectors continue to expand, the entry of new individual stakeholders into the directorial market has been less buoyant,” the company said.

CRIF Vision-net is a provider of credit risk and compliance data on businesses and individuals.

According to data released last week by professional services firm PwC, there were 212 business insolvencies recorded in the first quarter of this year with the retail sector being the most impacted.

The insolvency rate for the first three months, at 27 per 10,000 companies, is well below the long-term average of 49 per 10,000 businesses. Despite recent resilience, this stability is expected to be challenged as new cost pressures unfold, resulting from the crisis in the Middle East and wider geopolitical uncertainty.