The level of funding secured by Irish start-ups increased 15% to €978m last year as the number of companies raising capital dropped 23% year-on-year from 403 to 307, according to TechIreland's Irish Startup Funding Review.

2024 was the second successive year that annual funding levels were below €1bn after three consecutive years when funding reached 10 figures, in 2020 (€1.19bn), 2021 (€1.6bn) and (€1.3bn).

TechIreland’s 2024 fundraising data includes 138 deals with undisclosed amounts, however adjustments were made to factor in €100,000 rounds into Enterprise Ireland Pre-Seed Startups (PSSF), as well as High Potential Startups (HPSU).

The 10 largest investments accounted for more than 50% of the total led by LetsGetChecked (€150m), Fire1 (€109m) and Accounts IQ (€60m).

Since 2021, there has been an increase in the number of 'late VC' (€100m+) and 'growth' (€10m+ rounds.

This is also the second year to feature four companies from outside Dublin in the top 10 deals, with the notable inclusion of Galway-based Xerotech (€44m) and Neurent Medical (€18.2m), Louth-based XOCEAN (€30m) and Belfast-based Halo (€18m).

Dublin companies raised €645m, accounting for two-thirds of 2024 investment and representing around six in 10 (60%) start-ups raising funds.

The 18 Belfast companies included raised around 85% of the total funding reported for Northern Ireland.

Some 28 Galway-based companies raised over €132m in 2024, while in Cork 29 companies raised €40m, and there was activity reported across 24 counties.

Funding for female founders increased from €93m (11% of the total) in 2023 to €145m (15%) in 2024, putting Ireland ahead of the European average of 12% reported in March's TechIreland Female Founder Funding Review 2025

Early stage rounds of under €1m remained stable as 170 companies raised pre-seed and seed funding in 2024, which is the second best year on record for number of deals.

The data shows that 170 companies raised amounts below €1m each to a total of €31m, largely driven by Enterprise Ireland PSSF and HPSU investments compared to the 200 companies in 2023 that raised €55m, and 155 in 2022 that raised €43m.

TechIreland said the continued decline in the number of rounds in the €3-5m and €5-10m ranges was of particular concern. With just 29 deals in this range, 2023 had the lowest total since 2018. This figure dropped further in 2024 to 24 deals. 

There were 39 rounds of over €5m in 2024, with companies raising a total of €852m compared to a record low in 2023 when 28 companies raised €608m, and TechIreland said the data shows a clear gap in funding for companies raising Series A+ rounds.

Among the sectors, healthtech start-ups secured €532m of funding, with the sector topping the chart once more after a brief stint in second position in 2023 behind energy.

In 2024, the energy sector (€328m) ranked second, ahead of enterprise solutions (€190m) and fintech (€138m) despite the fact that these two sectors recorded a higher number of individual deals. 

“2024 was a mixed year for technology investment in Ireland. A 15% increase in the total amount raised, albeit from a low base, was paired with a 23% decline in the number of companies raising funding," said Brian Caulfield, director at TechIreland.

"A particular feature of 2024 was the continued decline in the number of rounds in the €3-5m and €5-10m ranges.

"This has been a worrying trend in the Irish market for several years now. Q1 2025, however, was a different story.

"Irish companies produced a record fundraising performance, raising €634m.”

Figures for the first quarter of 2024 show steep growth in tech start-up investments, with Q1 2025 performing better than any previous Q1 on record.

A total79 Irish companies raised a €634m among them, and three companies each raised over €100m (LetsGetChecked at €165m, Tines at €113m and XOCEAN at €115m).

In the European league tables, Ireland continues to punch above its weight, ranking among the top ten start-up investment destinations in Q1 2025.