Well, what a week it has been in tech. As if the NDRC debacle weren’t enough to keep us busy, we’ve also had all manner of companies reporting revenues.
One of these was Wayflyer, which reported a 72 per cent surge in turnover for last year as operating losses almost halved. It has been a big week for the firm as it has also just been ranked Ireland’s fastest-growing tech company in Deloitte’s ‘Fast 50’ list.
Read our exclusive interview with CEO Aidan Corbett here to find out more on the company’s plans to do for businesses what Revolut has done for consumers.
Talking of Revolut, I was in London last weekend at an event to mark the company reaching the 50 million customer milestone. While there, I got to chat to co-founder and chief technology officer Vlad Yetsenko who talked of the fintech doubling customer numbers within two to three years. Here’s my full report from the event, which includes a special guest appearance from no less than Charli XCX.
Having broken news of the decision to close NDRC, the state’s start-up accelerator late last week, we also reported extensively on reaction. In case you missed it, here’s what a large number of entrepreneurs had to say about the decision. As you might expect, the news did not go down well with an open letter denouncing the move gaining hundreds of signatures.
The planned closure has also became a political issue as junior enterprise minister Dara Calleary vowed that Fianna Fáil would reverse the decision if re-elected to government.
We followed up our initial news story with a report outlining the rationale behind the decision, and also revealed how Enterprise Ireland highlighted alternatives to NDRC. In addition, Dogpatch Labs CEO Patrick Walsh, contributed an OpEd lamenting the move to shutter the programme.
I’ll have more on this topic on businesspost.ie this weekend so don’t miss it.
A large number of tech companies outside of Wayflyer filed their latest accounts in recent days. These include the Irish arms of Google, Meta, and Coinbase, as well as &Open, Workhuman, and Global Shares.
Congratulations to former Stripe chief technology officer David Singleton, as the Belfast native announced a whopping $56 million seed raise for his new start-up that values it at $500 million. A big round of applause as well to Abeba Birhane who has been chosen to lead a new AI lab in Trinity College Dublin that will hold the likes of OpenAI accountable. It is a big win for TCD with the acclaimed researcher named as one of the 100 most influential people in AI by Time Magazine last year.
In further appointment news, Andreea Wade, founder of Opening.io, which was acquired by US firm ICIMS in 2020, has joined venture capital firm Delta as a general partner.
It’s election day so how better to start your day than by reading our guide to what the various political parties have to say on tech, AI and innovation in their manifestos. Calls for a Station F-style campus, a Department of Digital, a government chief information security officer, and action on data centres, are among the ideas put forward.
Talking of polling day, TikTok is in the bad books after approving ads containing harmful disinformation and voter suppression messages relating to the general election. Separately, the company warned that data centre constraints threaten to slow down its plans to migrate EU users’ information to Europe – including Ireland.
It’s nearly Christmas time so here is a piece I did for Irish Tatler on what I’d love to find under the tree, and what I think some of you might too.
In our weekly update, we are giving you the lowdown on the best tech jobs currently available locally. If you want to be included, then email [email protected]
In other news:
• Apple misses out as smartphone sales rebound
• FD Technologies boss eyes 25% growth for software division KX
• Eir closes gender pay gap to 1.6%
• Galway’s Relevium Medical secures €4.6m funding
Send on your news and views to [email protected]
All the best,
Charlie
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