Connected newsletter: Start-ups struggle to raise finance as state backs more male founders
Connected at the Business Post is your source for the news that matters in technology and innovation, all told from an Irish perspective
Amazon has faced countless allegations of anti-competitive or monopolistic behaviour over the years, but has largely escaped unscathed to date. That may be about to change however, with news that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is going after it.
In a complaint filed this week, the FTC and 17 states accused Amazon of engaging in a course of conduct to exclude rivals in online marketplace services and stifle competition.
While the e-commerce giant prepares to fight its corner, the company announced plans to invest as much as $4 billion in the AI start-up Anthropic on Monday.
Meanwhile, the US Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Google continues, with a blow to the company as the federal judge overseeing the case ruled that documents used during the trial can be published online each day. The Google trial is the biggest legal case against a big tech company in the US since the government’s suit against Microsoft in the 1990s.
ChatGPT parent OpenAI is reportedly talking to investors about a potential share sale that would value the start-up at between $80 billion and $90 billion.
On the subject of highly-valued companies, Stripe may not be worth as much as it once was, but its numbers still impress. The payment firm’s international business, which is headquartered in Dublin, recorded a 27 per cent increase in revenues last year to $2.85 billion Its British subsidiary also published accounts this week that show a £156.6 million rise in turnover in 2022 to £527.8 million.
Stripe might find it easy to access finance, but most Irish tech companies are struggling to do so, according to Scale Ireland. Martina Fitzgerald, the group’s chief executive, told an event on Wednesday that funding is the “number one issue” for tech firms here.
New figures show that much of the funding available from the state goes to male founders, with Enterprise Ireland allocating three quarters of its investment to companies led by men over the last six years.
In the ‘yeah, right’ corner this week is X, whose chief executive Linda Yaccarino claimed on Wednesday that it will be in profit early in 2024.
Meta has confirmed its intention to go ahead with its expansion plans in Dublin, despite its UK arm spending £149 million (€171 million) to break a lease in London. It also officially showed off its new Oculus headset.
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Irish fintech NoFrixion secured regulatory approval from the Central Bank this week, as did Kraken, the crypto exchange.
Did someone say approval? Bobby Healy’s Manna this week formally applied to the Civil Aviation Authority in Britain to get the go-ahead to provide drone deliveries there.
Clanwilliam Group, one of those great Irish tech companies that largely operates under the radar, announced a big expansion in Britain this week too.
Demand for cyber security staff has tripled since 2019 and the sector in Ireland needs an additional 1,000 workers annually, a new report has found.
Bank of America has invested in VentureWave Capital’s €100 million Impact Ireland fund, which invests in Irish “tech for good” companies.
Irish Web3-focused start-ups are being called upon to apply for Techstar’s latest accelerator programme, which will be partly held in Dublin.
Lastly, Irish Start-up Week NYC commences next week. This inaugural event, which counts the Business Post among its sponsors, is aimed at helping Irish companies to make it big in the US. Fingers crossed, because as the song goes, “if they can make it there, they can make it anywhere.“
All the best
Charlie
Quote of the week:
“Amazon is a monopolist and it is exploiting its monopolies in ways that leave shoppers and sellers paying more for worse service,” FTC chair Lina Khan
Why Linda Yaccarino took on the wildest job in Silicon Valley (Financial Times)
Can the chief of the company formerly known as Twitter survive Musk’s chaos and win back advertisers?
It's not just you. LinkedIn has gotten really weird (Business Insider)
What’s with the oversharing on LinkedIn?
