The Week In Irish Startups
New Belfast/London VC, Female Founder Breakfast, VC Backed Startup Hiring
Newsletter 80
Hi folks,
Here’s the main events, funding and hiring news this week that I thought you might find of interest in the Irish Start-up Ecosystem:
Funding/Investor News
Marama Labs: Silicon Republic reports that Deep-tech start-up Marama Labs, which is based in New Zealand and Ireland, has secured €280,000 in funding from Enterprise Ireland to expand its Irish operations. The funding is part of Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-Up scheme that has supported the likes of Skippio and Binarii Labs this year and 85 other start-ups last year. Earlier this year, Marama Labs raised €1.75m in a seed-plus funding round led by The Yield Lab to develop its novel spectroscopy technology, bringing its total funding to €2m. They’ve developed a novel device focused on spectroscopy – the study of the absorption and emission of light and other radiation by matter. The company uses this technology to rapidly analyse the chemistry of highly complex liquids in industries such as life sciences and fermentation.
LiveFlow: Silicon Republic also reports that LiveFlow, an accounting automation platform with some big names behind it, has bagged $13.5m in Series A funding. The start-up was founded by Irishman Evan O’Brien, a former Web Summit software engineer, and former Revolut employees Anita Koimur and Lasse Kalkar. The company builds tools that help companies streamline their financial management by giving finance teams real-time insight and reports from the significant amounts of data that would otherwise be processed through tools like Excel and Google Sheets.
IonaStar: The Business Post report that Iona Star, a Belfast and London-based venture capital firm has announced a first close of its new £40 million (€47.8 million) fund that will back early-stage companies focused on data and artificial intelligence. The VC has secured £20 million in its first close with retailer Frasers Group and the investment company Castelnau Group committing £10 million each. Iona’s partners include Graham Ferguson who previously served as chief financial officer at First Derivatives, the Newry-based, London- listed tech company now known as FD Technologies, and Kevin McGivern, who previously led sales for the firm.
Events/Programmes:
Female Founder Breakfast: Scaling Sales & GTM: AWS are holding a Female Founder breakfast on the morning of Cloud Day on October 10th. Speakers will include Aishling Ennis, Regional VP, Slack; Louise Holmes, Head of Sales, Wayflyer; Leena Kaloinen, Head of Sales, Roadie; and Gracious Nyamupachitu, Global Strategy & Ops Lead, Pinterest. Learn how they have collectively scaled Sales from 0 to IPO. Seats are limited so register your interest here now! Cloud Day is AWS’ flagship event in Ireland and it begins straight after the breakfast, for more info on Cloud Day click here.
Securing The Future of AI: Calypso AI are holding a panel event that brings together leaders in AI and cybersecurity to discuss one of the most pressing topics of our time: Securing the Future of AI. As AI continues to revolutionise industries and society, ensuring its safe and ethical deployment is critical. The event is in-person on Thursday, October 3rd at their office at 20 Hatch Street in the city centre. It's a panel discussion moderated by broadcaster Elaine Burke on 'Securing the Future of AI in a Connected World'. The panellists include Ciaran Martin - Global Security Expert, ex-CEO of the UK National Cyber Security Centre and MD at Paladin Capital and Jimmy White, President and CTO of CalypsoAI. Details and registration are here.
Hiring
Joulica: Joulica is a multi-award-winning venture backed startup that works with multiple Fortune 50 organizations to drive Digital Innovation in the Customer Experience industry. They have decades of experience solving problems for the largest Contact Centers on the planet and excel at the intersection of Realtime Analytics, Customer Experience and Digital Business Innovation. They are hiring for a Sales Development Representative (SDR). This candidate will play a crucial role in driving their growth by identifying and engaging potential clients. As the initial point of contact with potential clients, the ideal SDR possesses a solid grasp of the sales process and excels at identifying leads, building new relationships, and positioning sales closers for success. For more info and to apply for the role click here.
Best,
Ed