TLDR:
- Venture capital funding into Irish SMEs dropped by 57% in the first quarter of 2024.
- Software companies only accounted for 9% of the total funding secured.
Venture capital funding into Irish SMEs experienced a significant decline of nearly half, reaching €258.5 million in the first quarter of 2024 compared to €502 million in the same period the previous year. This decrease was attributed to a 57% fall in international funding into Irish SMEs. However, seed funding for very early-stage companies showed resilience, with a 126% increase in funding for companies raising €1 million-€3 million. The top five deals in the first quarter included investments in sectors such as medical devices, energy transition, fintech software, space tech, and medtech. The life sciences sector led the way in funding at 62%, followed by envirotech at 17% and software at 9%.
