Female founders raised €145m last year but the number of women-founded companies that raised capital was down on 2023.

According to a new report from TechIreland, 48 Irish women-founded startups fundraised a total of €145m.

Deal size also increased significantly, with the average raise growing to €2.9m in 2024 from €1.2m in 2023.

However, that was still only half the €6m average raise for all Irish tech startups last year.

The report also notes the number of women-founded companies that raised capital last year dropped compared to 2023, reflecting a global trend.

It said last year women-founded companies raising capital across Europe dropped significantly. 

In 2024, there were 27 reported deals of female-led companies raising between €0.1m and €3m, compared to 64 in 2023 but some rounds were undisclosed.

Startups raising €1m - €3m remained steady, with 14 companies raising €26m.

Angel networks including AwakenAngels and HBAN helped female founders and government-backed initiatives such as NDRC, Founders Accelerator, HBAN, and Enterprise Ireland's PSSF and HPSU are playing a key role in early-stage funding. 

However, while the number of companies raising investment dropped compared to the previous year, the total amount of funding increased due to a small number of very large deals. 

Four investments accounted for €85m or 60% of the funding for women founded startups.

Deals include Dublin’s Nuritas (€38m) and Croivalve (€15m), Galway’s MBRYONICS (€18m) and Luminate Medical (€15m). 

Interestingly, one in four of the Female Founded Startups was a Third-Level Spinout, collectively the 10 spinouts raised €42m.

The vast bulk,90%, of the funding went into the Life Science and Healthtech.

The report noted this "trend mirrors what we see across Europe, where health remains a top sector for female founders."

Investment into Enterprise Software, another strong Irish sector, grew significantly with €11m raised by 10 companies in 2024 compared to nine raising €3m in 2023.

Eight of the 48 women led startups are working on Artificial Intelligence solutions.

Overall funding levels into EdTech grew from €0.1m (2023) to €1.6m (2024) and Agri/Food from €1.2m (2023) to €3.5m (2024), while CleanTech remained steady at €2.7m.

Fintech continues its downward trend, falling from €72 m (2022) to €4m (2023) to €2m (2024).

Over half of the funding went to companies in Dublin but 11 Life Science companies in Galway collectively raised €54m.

And of the 10 spinouts that raised money in 2024, six are from Galway while five Cork-based female startups raised €4m. 

Chief Executive of TechIreland, John O’Dea said: “This is TechIreland’s seventh report on Irish Women Founder funding and support. 

"While the picture is getting better, it's clear we still have a long way to go. 

"Tech startups with even one female founder account for less than 15% of the total raised by Irish companies and the average funding raised by companies with a woman founder is only half the average for all companies. 

"Clearly, doing more to support women tech entrepreneurs is urgently required.’’ 

Aine Mulloy, Account Manager, Startups at Amazon Web Services said: ‘‘For female founders, it’s clear that 2024 was hard won, with €145m raised across 48 companies.

"While this represents over a 50% increase on 2023, it’s clear that some large outliers inflated the total.

"Early stage funding continues to dwindle. Female founders are delivering growth on a shoestring, imagine what they could do with a full suite of supports.”