e-commerce financier Wayflyer has been named as the top Irish start-up by LinkedIn after achieving unicorn status earlier this year following its Series B funding round.
The Dublin-based firm has since raised a further $253m in debt financing from Credit Suisse and has grown its staff to over 250 people. The company is valued at around €1.6bn and previously secured $300m from JP Morgan.
The company topped LinkedIn's 2022 Top Startups List, which ranks the top 10 start-ups to work for in the country in terms of desirability, and LinkedIn said the list reflected the Irish companies that have embraced innovation and the future of work while navigating the evolution of consumer and business needs.
The list is compiled based on the analysis of LinkedIn data scientists, examining millions of actions by 2m members in Ireland across four pillars: employee growth; job interest; engagement with the company and its employees; and the attraction of top talent.
LinkedIn’s 2022 Irish Top Startups are
- Wayflyer, the growth financing business for eCommerce companies
- Workvivo, the employee communication platform headquartered in Cork
- Flipdish, an online food-ordering start-up
- Gym+Coffee, athleisure clothing business
- Tines, the no-code automation platform for security teams
- XOCEAN, the turnkey data collection service for surveyors, companies and agencies
- Manna Drone Delivery, the business-to-customer drone delivery company
- &Open, the gifting platform that makes it easier for brands to send carefully-selected gifts to customers to boost loyalty
- Tegus, the company intelligence platform for institutional investors, corporations, and consultancies
- ICS Medical Devices, the catheter design and manufacturing services provider
Commenting on the list, Sandrine Chauvin, international executive editor of LinkedIn News, said: “The diverse range of industries covered by the list, ranging from medical devices and cybersecurity to drone delivery and activewear, reflects how Irish entrepreneurs are making a global impact.
In Association with
"Both nationally and internationally, we are seeing startups like XOCEAN, a carbon neutral solution to collect ocean data, addressing the challenges such as environmental protection. Similarly, we are observing a rise in e-commerce and HR startups, both internationally and also here in Ireland.
“These startups are navigating uncertain economic times, optimising for long-term growth and offering employees opportunities to learn new skills and succeed."
Since April 2020, the Aidan Corbett and Jack Pierse-founded business has lent some €540m to more than 1,000 businesses, using analytics to assess funding requests for applicants and providing funding within 48 hours.
The $200m debt and $53m mezzanine facility from Credit Suisse increased Wayflyer's "origination capability" as it identifies and supports high-growth potential businesses with liquidity and operational resilience.
In addition to the 250 it employs in Ireland, Wayflyer has 80 staff in the UK, 100 at its US base in Atlanta and 25 in Australia. Wayflyer's 2020 accounts show shareholders funds of $5.2bn following a year in which it lost $3.9m.
Photo: Jack Pierse (left) and Aidan Corbett.
