Fierce Tech Founders reposted this
Today TechIreland released its Female Founders & Funders 2025 Report, in partnership with Fierce Tech Founders at Dogpatch Labs, and sponsored by AWS. Representing Dogpatch Labs and NDRC at today’s launch was Lorraine E. Curham, who leads up Fierce - an initiative to support globally ambitious women tech founders to scale. What three insights can startups take away from this report? 1. Funding for women-led startups in Ireland is up, but the number of overall deals being made is down. 2. Notably, just 4 out of 46 investments accounted for 60% of total funding in 2024 for women (co)founded startups. Many of the later-stage rounds were led by non-Irish investors (UK and US). In contrast, earlier-stage investment rounds tend to be led by Irish investors. 3. Out of the €142m invested in 2024, €122m went to life sciences and health tech (including the top four above). The remaining 20m was split between six other sectors. Download the full report: https://lnkd.in/epAHBJVJ Did you miss today’s launch? We’ve got some great advice from today’s panellists of founders, investors and ecosystem builders: Chirp’s founder Rena Maycock highlights the power of the network, “Do not underestimate the power of other founders. Ask for introductions but be clear what you’re asking for,” while Peri's founder Heidi Davis who was Enterprise Ireland’s Founder of the Year 2024 shares VC tips: “Get investors that are good for your cap table, don’t always focus on gender, but think about the balance as it may actually help you!” Tech journalist Elaine Burke, host of the new For Tech’s Sake podcast, illustrates how instrumental your comms are: “Become the best storyteller in the room. Most successful founders are brilliant at storytelling.” Red Flags from an investor's perspective? Andreea Wade, exited founder and now partner at Delta Partners Ltd., weighs in: “Founders that don’t have depth of talking through the space they are in. I like founders who give me details. Look at every single slide of your pitch deck; what questions could you be asked?“ A well-known name in the Irish tech ecosystem DC Cahalane, Venture Partner at Sure Valley Ventures talks about identifying what your startup is solving: “I want to feel the pain in the problem, you will not stop until this problem is solved. Do your research on the VC/investor. Is this an area that they want to actively invest in? Avoid wasting their time or your time by blasting investors hoping they’ll invest in your solution.” Ireland has the potential to become a launchpad for early-stage, women-led startups - attracting global investment as they scale. However, achieving this requires more early-stage funding and sectoral diversification. What are your thoughts? Share below in the comments. Áine Mulloy | Ed O'Riordan |Sarah Walker | Sree (Sreekanth Nagabhushana) | John O'Dea