👋 Céad míle fáilte! Wow, it's already been a bit over a month since we rolled out the Irish Insights Job Board and Founder Directory, and the response has been excellent!
We've seen a big boost in web traffic and have received some awesome feedback that's helping us make things even better. But the real highlight? Our Founder Directory now features over 130 founders, and it's been fantastic to read through every single one of them.
Today’s jam-packed edition is a 2-minute, 45-second read. ⏩ In a rush? Here's the quick rundown:
🧐 Founder Focus: How a cold email to Patrice Evra changed everything for James Flanagan. Find out how they're killing the "link in bio" struggle with FanCart.
✈️ Abroad: FemTech company Coroflo has a major win at CES 2026, Stripe finalizes the Metronome deal, big U.S. business deals for Sweepr and Vivasure Medical, and Ekco is increasing its efforts in the Caribbean.
🏠 Home: Stripe Young Scientist 2026, Napier steps down from Cubic³, Techstars Belfast launch, and MediDrive invests in Irish-founded startup SPRYT.
🌶️ Hot Job: Head of Marketing at Output Sports. Boston (Remote-friendly). Own the inbound engine for an elite sports-tech company that provides data analytics to NFL, MLB, and Premier League teams.
Lets dive in 🤿
P.S. Dont like reading newsletters in your email? Click here:
LATEST UPDATES
News from abroad ✈️
Rosanne Longmore - CEO at Coroflo
🇺🇸 Irish FemTech Sweeps CES: Dublin-based Coroflo made history at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, becoming the first product to scoop four major awards at a single show (including CNET's Best Parent Tech). Their flagship product, Coro, is a smart nipple shield with a patented microflow meter that tracks exactly how much milk a baby consumes in real-time. Meanwhile, Irish firm Peri, led by co-founder Heidi Davis, also announced during CES that it has officially begun taking orders for its purpose-built wearable for perimenopause.
🇺🇸 Stripe’s Agentic Era: It's been a big week for the Collison brothers. Stripe has completed its $1 billion purchase of Metronome, a leading US company in usage billing that supports OpenAI and NVIDIA. Microsoft has also announced "Copilot Checkout," a shopping feature within Microsoft Copilot that uses Stripe. This play aims to create the financial systems for AI and “to rethink every part of the existing commerce and financial stack”.
🇺🇸 The Global Exit & Acquisition Play: It was a big week for business deals involving Irish tech companies. US company Plume bought Dublin-based Sweepr Technologies to improve its AI customer service; Sweepr's founder, Alan Coleman, will now serve as their Chief Product Officer. Also, Galway's Vivasure Medical was bought by US company Haemonetics for up to €185 million. This deal will help distribute Vivasure's unique PerQseal technology.
🇹🇹 Ekco’s €10m Caribbean Expansion: Irish-founded cloud and security provider Ekco is doubling down on the Caribbean with a new office in Trinidad and Tobago. Led by Mark Donnellan, the expansion involves a €10m investment over two years to meet the "rising tide of cyber threats" in the region. With a global workforce of over 1,000, Ekco plans to more than double its regional revenue to €5m by 2027 while creating 18 new roles focused on high-stakes sectors like finance and government.
At home 🏠
The next generation: Aoibheann Daly, from Co. Kerry, has won the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (YSTE) 2026. Her project, GlioScope, uses advanced technology to study brain cancer.
A New Chapter: After 17 years, Barry Napier is stepping down as CEO of Cubic³, with COO Shane Sorohan taking over. Sorohan will lead the next phase of AI-led connectivity for the company's 27 million connected vehicles.
Belfast’s Founder-First Launch: Techstars Belfast launches at Ormeau Labs. Led by investor Jon Bradford in partnership with Queen’s University, the initiative aims to transform the city's startup scene.
Healthcare AI startup SPRYT has secured investment from New York’s MediDrive to integrate its AI receptionist, Asa, with its medical logistics network. the move aims to ensure the "last mile" of healthcare is covered.
FOUNDER FOCUS
Mayo-born commercial diver turned Dubai entrepreneur builds an AI commerce platform with a Man Utd legend
Living abroad: “I left Westport for Perth on a one-way ticket 15 years ago... I swapped the wetsuit for a suit and never looked back.”
The leap: “I tried to buy trainers from The Rock’s Instagram, but the ‘link in bio’ was a dead end. I knew there had to be a better way for fans to shop what they see.”
The co-founder: “I sent a cold LinkedIn message to Patrice Evra. A 15-minute call turned into 90 minutes of laughing and planning. Now he’s a co-founder and lead investor.”
The pivot: “Before tech, I was a rigger and commercial diver in the Timor Sea. Those years taught me the grit you need when a startup gets tough.”
Personalisation: “Netflix knows what you watch and Spotify knows what you hear. FanCart is making sure commerce finally catches up.”
Abroad advantage: “The Irish card is phenomenal overseas. We want to help each other. Join the groups, ask for help, and don't be afraid to network.”
Advice: “Don’t take advice from people who haven’t done it. If you genuinely believe you have something, go for it.”
💼 IRISH INSIGHTS JOB BOARD
What Irish firms are hiring?
Head of Marketing at Output Sports. Boston (Remote-friendly). Own the inbound engine for an elite sports-tech company that provides data analytics to the NFL, MLB, and Premier League teams.
Principal Consultant at Fenergo. Remote-friendly (Dublin). Act as a strategic advisor for a global leader in AI-powered financial crime compliance, helping the world’s top banks fight fraud and money laundering.
Senior Design Assurance Engineer at Luminate Medical. Galway. Shape the future of cancer treatment by developing revolutionary wearable devices that address the side effects of chemotherapy.
Strategic Finance Senior Manager at Imprint. New York (Hybrid). Lead high-stakes financial evaluations and partner economics for a fintech unicorn reimagining co-branded credit cards for brands like Booking.com.
Software Engineer at Prolific. Remote (UK). Build the "human data infrastructure" necessary for the next wave of AI innovation, focusing on ethically sourced data for model training.
Hiring? Post a job for free
BRAIN FOOD
5 other things we are snacking on this week
Conor Twomey explores the AI Earnings Mirage: Why Enterprise Hype Isn’t Showing Up in the Numbers
Is SaaS wrecked? Eoghan Mc Cabe (founder of Intercom) seems to think so.
Revealed: Where the Irish passport sits in 2026 global ranking
Why this VC thinks 2026 will be ‘the year of the consumer’
Irish EdTech firms gain the edge in US as AI‑driven learning demand surges
What'd you think of today's email?
Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.