The Week In Irish Startups
Latest Angel Investments, Baseline Christmas Party & Head of Partnerships Role
Newsletter 88
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
Angels: Nick Webb has news of a number of recent angel investments in his Sunday Times column. These include Swoop funding, the business funding platform, of which England rugby player Max Malins has emerged as a backer of along with Ciara McElligott of Tetrach. He also covers recent investors in Bounce Insights who include Colm Menton. Menton sold the Europcar rental franchise in 2016.
Continuous Software: RTE reports that Dublin headquartered Continuous Software has raised €1 million in seed funding to fuel its expansion. The company has now completed the first phase of a €2.5 million round. The investment was led by Athens-based, publicly listed Performance Technologies, alongside a group of investors including a major System Integrator and four Saudi Arabian businessmen. The funding will accelerate Continuous Software's EMEA expansion and fuel further product innovation. Its flagship product, aangine, is an AI-powered platform that enables organisations to align teams, budgets, programs, and projects with strategic goals and objectives.
Freebird Club: The innovative social travel and homestay club for older adults, Freebird Club, has successfully raised €500,000 in pre-seed investment from Enterprise Ireland and Portuguese impact investor Ageas Foundation. This funding will accelerate Freebird Club’s mission to promote new social connections and enhance well-being among older adults through unique travel and social experiences.
Keychain: The Business Post reports that Irishman Oisin Hanrahan’s Keychain has raised a further $15m from backers. Hanrahan is a serial entrepreneur and previously founded Handy. Keychain is building what it describes as the world's first comprehensive AI-powered supply chain platform for the consumer packaged goods (CPG) segment.
State of European Tech Report: The report combines quantitative data from 41 European countries and a survey of thousands of founders, operators, and investors to understand what's really going on in European tech. Insights in this tenth anniversary edition include that Europe's tech companies have raised $426 billion since Atomico launched the inaugural edition of its State of European Tech (SoET) report in 2015 - ten times more than the $43 billion raised in the decade prior (2005-14). You can download and read more here.
Events/Programmes:
AWS Startup Offers: AWS offers a number of discounts for AWS Activate members. Startups can find exclusive discounts on the offers homepage here. To learn more about an offer, startups need to create a free AWS Builder ID and fill out a quick one-time form. This also gives access to other helpful startup tools. Offers include Intercom for startups for free (worth an estimated 25k), the Notion Plus plan and unlimited AI, free for 6 months (over $6,000 in savings) and 75% off HubSpot for eligible companies. T’s & C’s apply.
Baseline Christmas Event: Baseline is an independent community and workspace for early-stage founders who are building breakout and break-through tech companies in Ireland. Baseline and friends are hosting a Christmas party for founders, their teams, investors and partners in the Irish ecosystem, on the night of Thursday 12th Dec, 20:00 to late. For more info and to register click here.
NDRC: SiliconRepublic report that The National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) – the country’s national start-up accelerator has announced that it will close operations in November 2025. Until then, operations will continue as usual. According to the State-back accelerator, it has helped portfolio companies raise €500m since its inception, of which, more than €200m was secured in the last four years alone. Portfolio companies have created 650 jobs over the past three years. A number of founders have written an open letter to the government opposing the decision. You can read more details on Luke Mackey of Kotas’ post here and sign here. Michael Cogley in The Currency also covers this and how the decision seems to go against recommendations by the OECD for Ireland to further develop its incubator industry – not reduce it.
Hiring
BOSS IT: BOSS IT are hiring for a Head of Partnerships to spearhead their collaboration with software resellers and strategic partners. BOSS IT is an AI-powered management system for the Hospitality Industry, that optimises operations, reduces costs, and amplifies profits. It encompasses POS, Online/Table Ordering, Custom App, Stock and Staff Management, Driver Tracking, Channel Manager, Kiosks, KDS, Gift Cards, Reviews, Loyalty, and customer communication tools like Email, Push, and SMS. As part of their mission to deliver best-in-class QSR software solutions, you will be at the forefront of building and nurturing partnerships that drive mutual success. Success in this role means developing a robust network of partners, hosting engaging events, and driving collaborative opportunities that support the company’s growth objectives. For more info and to apply click here.
CTO’s: I have met a couple of quite experienced CTO’s who’ve worked in venture backed high quality companies this month exploring both fractional and full-time roles. If you are hiring and would like an intro, please send me on the details and I’ll forward to them.
Best,
Ed
P.S DevAlly: Congratulations to NDRC Alumni DevAlly. Attending Slush as part of Enterprise Ireland’s delegation of 24 start-ups, they were selected from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants for the final 3 of the Slush 100 competition. The OASYS NOW platform claimed the top prize at the competition and will secure secure an equity investment of €1,000,000 from General Catalyst and Cherry Ventures.