Companies

Venture capital firm Venrex backs Dublin mushroom coffee company OYL

The value of the ‘functional mushrooms’ market is forecast to grow to more than €50 billion by 2030

James McCormack, co-founder and chief executive, OYL: ‘We’ve ambitious targets, particularly in the UK, where something like five million people have Nespresso machines.’ Picture: Fergal Phillips

OYL, a new mushroom coffee company established by the founder of the Dublin Barista School, has received backing from Venrex, a VC firm which was an early investor in Revolut, Bolt, Mumsnet and Just Eat.

James McCormack, whose academy has trained more than 50,000 baristas since it was founded in 2011, has co-founded the business with Conor Sharpe and Barry O’Neill. Sharpe and O’Neill are founders and partners at CircleRock Capital, which backed Irish tech ...