💡 My visa cost went up 46,409% overnight

👋 Céad míle fáilte!

Well, he’s at it again. Donald Trump just threw a hand grenade into the world of tech immigration, hiking the cost of H-1B visa applications to an eye-watering $100,000. It’s the very visa that once brought Elon Musk to the U.S.

Lots of Irish citizens have also used this in the past, but that’s not the point. The real story is what happens next. As American startups face a talent crunch and global workers rethink their options, countries like Ireland might not be just backups anymore, but a serious alternative.

The question isn’t whether the door to the U.S. is closing. It’s whether Ireland has built enough of a welcome mat where talent and startups want to live, build, and stay?

Time will tell. One to keep an eye on.

⏳ Today’s dispatch takes 4 minutes 20 seconds to read. ⏩ Only got 15 seconds? Here’s what matters:

• 🛒 FanCart recruitment: Man United legend joins Irish founded startup.

• 💳 Stripe at $106.7B: Collisons plan a mega buyback.

• 🚀 YC Double hit: Lua AI and Forge Robotics join Y Combinator.

• 🏦 Zippay pushback: Neo-banks and customers aren’t convinced.

• 🌾 AI at the Ploughing: Ireland’s agri-tech moment hits the main stage.

• 💸 $50M+ raised: Nory, Barespace, Rekord, Seapoint, Icarus & Wych lead fresh rounds.

Enjoy ☕

P.S. Prefer a cleaner reading experience? Click here:

LATEST UPDATES
News From Abroad ✈️

🇸🇬 🇦🇪 Rewriting fan-first commerce: Irish founder James Flanagan is reinventing how fans shop online. HQ’d in Singapore, Fancart is a platform that lets people discover products linked to the personalities, brands and passions they love. Now Manchester United legend Patrice Evra has joined as co-founder and investor after spending two days with the team in Dubai shaping strategy and opening his global network.

🇺🇸 IPO who? The Collison brothers are set to buy back shares at a jaw-dropping $106.7B valuation, topping Stripe’s 2021 peak of $95B only for tech valuations to crater and IPO hopes to fade. With no IPO on the horizon yet, this buyback gives insiders liquidity without Wall Street’s glare. The Collisons aren’t just riding the cycle; they’re defining it.

🇺🇸 More YC wins: “It still feels surreal,” says Lorcan O Cathain, co-founder of Lua AI. His startup has officially joined Y Combinator, backing its mission to make AI practical and powerful for millions of small businesses. This milestone comes hot on the heels of Galway-based Forge Robotics also joining YC last month marking another big moment for Ireland’s startup scene. Talk about a double whammy.

🇦🇺 Hell week for Irish CEO: Australia’s #2 telco suffered another Triple-0 (emergency) outage, its second in 10 days, reigniting public anger and prompting new regulatory probes. CEO Stephen Rue now faces mounting pressure as Optus and parent Singtel scramble to restore trust in a critical network.

Back Home 🏠

• Irish banks’ new Zippay service is being met with skepticism from neo-banks, fintech leaders and customers.

• National Ploughing Championships in Screggan saw AI and sustainability take centre stage as Irish agri-tech innovators showcased new solutions.

• EI has launched NextWave, a 10-week national accelerator for women founders, helping validate ideas and build investor momentum.

• Web Summit will fly 20 Irish students and grads to this year’s event with a €25k all-access pass and the chance to meet attending visionaries and leaders.

EXTRA INSIGHTS
Six Irish-Affiliated Startups Bag Over $50M in Fresh Funding

🍽️ Nory: Raised a hefty $37M Series B to scale its AI restaurant-management platform globally, cementing Irish AI’s growing influence in hospitality tech.

💇‍♀️ Barespace: Secured €2.9M seed to transform salon and barbershop operations with its AI-driven management platform and expand across Europe.

💳 Rekord: The Dublin fintech landed $2.1M pre-seed for its AI-native credit orchestration platform, backed by Point Nine (investors in Revolut, Delivery Hero, Zendesk, Chainalysis).

🏦 Seapoint: Dublin-based fintech founded by Stripe alumni closed $3M pre-seed to enhance banking automation for startups and mid-market companies worldwide.

🚀 Icarus: The New York based space-tech company co-founded by Trinity grad Jamie Palmer has bagged $6.1M to build embodied AI robots for NASA and next-gen autonomous missions.

🌏 Wych: Raised $1.5M to accelerate open-banking services across Australasia, tapping rising demand for smarter fintech infrastructure.

⚡️ Investment Opportunity ⚡️

Kinetic Power Solutions is developing innovative kinetic-energy power plants in the UK and is raising £500,000 to accelerate its first project.

• Minimum ticket: £50,000 (ideal for angel investors who can move faster than institutional capital)

• Why now: This is a rare early entry point into a clean energy platform that is emission free, reliable, and scalable.

• Interested? Reach out to Seamus Mills, CEO:
  [email protected]

👉 GOT FUNDRAISING NEWS? 
If you’re raising, just raised, or know someone who is we’d love to hear about it. Drop us a line by responding to this email.

🧠 BRAIN FOOD
Great Bunch of Lads, “Tipping point”, Westlife Boxing Stories & Netflix Guinness

💬 Quote: “Ireland is at a tipping point.” - Gary Fox of The Entrepreneur Experiment on retaining talent and empowering indigenous founders.

💼 Job: Junior Solutions Engineer @ Sequence (New York / London). Irish founded company opening doors for Irish grads.

☘️ Tool: Dosen, an Irish founded platform that aligns employees’ career ambitions with company’s strategic goals, to increase productivity and reduce churn.

🎧 Pod: Former Westlife man Nicky Byrne sits down with Irish boxing star Michael Conlan for an unflinching conversation about triumph, controversy, and resilience.

💪 That’s Interesting: What are the biggest M&A transactions in Irish history? Take a guess who is #1?

😊 Good news: Netflix just dropped House of Guinness with a powerhouse Irish cast, gritty storytelling, and pure binge-worthy vibes. Check out the trailer here.

😂 Meme: Europe according to Ireland:

💡 INSIGHTS POLL

Last weeks poll results: What’s the biggest obstacle facing Ireland’s start-up scene?

💰 Capital - 75%
🧠 Mentorship - 0%
🏛️ Government Support & Policy - 25%
🧑‍💻 Talent Access - 0%
🏘️ Community & Culture - 0%

🔗 Share irish insights

Copy and paste this link to others:

https://www.irish-insights.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER