Like most countries in Europe, Ireland has been no stranger to the slowdown in tech funding. Its startups have raised $855m so far this year, less than half of what was raised across the whole of 2022, according to data platform Dealroom.
Nonetheless, that hasn’t stopped some companies from lighting a fire underneath team growth — especially in the energy sector.
Four of the top ten fastest-growing companies in Ireland are working in energy, and all of the companies are based in capital Dublin, according to analysis of Dealroom data.
Here are the top 10 fastest-growing teams. To be considered, startups had to have raised at least $50m and been founded since 2005.
Stream BioEnergy
HQ city: Dublin
Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 92% to 23 employees
Stream BioEnergy converts organic materials like waste from industrial food and beverage companies into renewable energy and planet-friendly biofertilisers, using biogas projects that it develops, owns and operates. Founded in 2009, it has raised €60m so far — and in September 2023, was named as the manager of a new €80m biomethane production site run by supply-chain management company DHL Supply Chain, to offer a fuel source for grocery delivery trucks.
Tines
HQ city: Dublin
Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 88% to 280 employees
Tines, founded in 2018, helps teams build workflows tailored to the needs of their company, cleaning up tasks across a company’s tech stack — any task with an API can be automated. It’s raised around $96.1m in funding since its launch, according to Dealroom, and is backed by the likes of Accel, Blossom Capital and Index Ventures.
NomuPay
HQ city: Dublin
Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 59% to 102 employees
Unified payments startup NomuPay offers a platform that helps companies expand and scale across Europe and Southeast Asia by enabling easier local payment acceptance and the transfer of money from the business’s account in other locations. In May 2023, it raised a $53.6m Series A round from Finch Capital and Outpost Ventures — its first public fundraise since its launch in 2021.
FIRE1
HQ city: Dublin
Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 33% to 60 employees
FIRE1 is developing an implant that allows heart failure and heart disease patients to be monitored remotely by their doctors and is currently conducting its first clinical trial. It’s raised around $81.4m since its launch in 2014, from investors including NEA and Novo Holdings.
UrbanVolt
HQ city: Dublin
Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 25% to 35 employees
Solar-as-a-service startup UrbanVolt helps large corporate energy users access cleaner energy options by managing the design, installation and maintenance of solar panels. Investors like Verdane Capital and Low Carbon Innovation Fund have chipped in over €100m in equity since its launch in 2015.
TechMet
HQ city: Dublin
Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 13% to 17 employees
TechMet strategically acquires other startups that are producing or extracting the metals important to the transition to clean energy, like lithium, nickel and cobalt, alongside companies working on technology like low-carbon batteries. The aim is to become a “technology metals champion with strategic control” over the materials that will become key to facilitating clean energy adoption.
Nuritas
HQ city: Dublin
Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 13% to 59 employees
Nuritas uses an AI-powered platform to create new peptides — which are components of messenger cells used in the human body in processes like healing — from nature. It currently has a library of peptides with known functionalities and uses its AI software to clinically test the peptides discovered to see if they could be used as a treatment, as well as patent novel ones it finds.
BNRG Renewables
HQ city: Dublin
Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 13% to 53 employees
Founded in 2007, BNRG Renewables develops and operates solar farms across Europe, Australia and the US to generate solar-powered energy. So far, it’s raised around €124.4m in debt and equity, according to Dealroom.
Prevedere
HQ city: Dublin
Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 11% to 69 employees
Generative AI startup Prevedere aims to help companies forecast how external factors — like market conditions or supply-chain problems — could affect their business. Founded in 2012, it’s raised around $56.6m so far — investors include US-based VCs Norwest Venture Partners, PointGuard Ventures and Workday Ventures.
Cubic Telecom
HQ city: Dublin
Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 10% to 280 employees
Cubic Telecom offers software solutions to help businesses across automotive, agriculture and transportation industries enhance their products and access data analytics on customer behaviour. Clients include car makers Porsche and Skoda, and tech giants Panasonic and Microsoft.
