Before we start, a tiny favor...
We spend hours every week writing and curating this newsletter. If you’re a regular reader and a founder, it would mean the world to us if you could spare 2 minutes to fill out our Irish Founders Sentiment Survey. ☘️
We’ll be releasing the results as an exclusive report in our St. Patrick’s Day special.
Go raibh maith agat!
👋 Céad míle fáilte! Check this out: Conor Coade and James Drum are two 18-year-old Irish founders making a high-stakes trip to San Francisco this month to launch Rhycon. Talk about a ballsy move!
They’re betting every euro they have on the belief that they are building the next unicorn. If you’re in the Valley and can offer a hand, make sure to reach out and connect. 🤝
Today’s action-packed edition is a 3-minute read. ⏩ In a rush? Here's the quick 15 second rundown:
✈️ Abroad: Wayflyer's $250M Apollo-backed war chest, Neurent Medical's oversubscribed €62.5M round from Boston and Paris and Cork's Prof Rosalyn Moran bringing brain-inspired AI to the Royal Navy.
🏠 Home: Toyo AI's $4.3M founder toolkit, ZeroRisk's 80 jobs for Longford, SunArc's €20M solar-as-a-service play for Carlow, and Setanta Space Systems blasting off with ESA veterans at the helm.
👩 Founder: Fiona McEntee is a Chicago-based Irish immigration lawyer and media commentator turned co-founder of Nouvie, an award-winning non-alcoholic wine brand.
🌶️ Hot Job: Founding Account Executive at LiveFlow. New York (On-Site). You’ll be one of the first sellers on a brand-new product, operating in true 0 → 1 territory.
Enjoy ☕
LATEST UPDATES
News from abroad ✈️
Rosalyn Moran, CEO Stanhope AI
🇺🇸 Fuelling the Founders: Dublin's Wayflyer just secured a $250 million credit facilityfrom ATLAS SP Partners (a warehouse finance giant majority-owned by Wall Street titan Apollo Global Management) to put rocket fuel behind small business founders globally. CEO Aidan Corbett has built a machine: since launching in 2020, Wayflyer has deployed over $6 billion to thousands of brands, and this week quietly confirmed it's surpassed $100 million in annual revenue too.
🇺🇸 Galway's Neurent Medical just closed an oversubscribed €62.5 million Series C (led by Boston-based MVM Partners with major participation from Paris's Sofinnova Partners) to commercialise its NEUROMARK device, a minimally invasive treatment for chronic rhinitis. The device uses radiofrequency technology to target the overactive nasal nerves at the root of the problem, giving millions of sufferers real, durable relief. CEO Brian Shields has been building this quietly out of Galway with US operations already up and running in Massachusetts.
🇬🇧 Brain Over Brute Force: While the AI world races to build ever-bigger models, Cork woman Professor Rosalyn Moran is taking a completely different approach. Her London-based deeptech startup Stanhope AI just closed an $8 million seed round led by Frontline Ventures to build AI that thinks more like a human brain than a language model, running directly on drones and autonomous systems at the edge, no cloud needed. The tech is already being tested with the Royal Navy.
🇺🇸 Two young founders going full send: Conor Coade and James Drum, the founders behind Rhycon, aren’t waiting for degrees or permission. While their peers are in lecture halls, these two are mapping out booking flight to San Fran, investor meetings and betting every euro they have on themselves in the world’s most competitive startup hub. If you’re in San Fran at the end of February make sure to give the lads a message and help them out.
At home 🏠
Founder Fuel: Kildare-based Toyo AI raised $4.3 million in a seed round backed by Frontline Ventures to build an AI toolkit giving early-stage founders the kind of operational firepower usually reserved for well-resourced teams.
Midlands Rising: Cybersecurity SaaS company ZeroRisk, founded by Gary Nolan in 2023, is creating 80 new jobs in Longford with a new facility at the Axis Centre, serving global financial institutions from the heart of the midlands. Even the Taoiseach showed up. Not bad, Gary.
Sun's Out: Carlow's SunArc is investing €20 million and creating 50 jobs behind a "solar-as-a-service" model that lets Irish businesses go solar with zero upfront cost. Simple idea, massive potential.
Houston, We Have Liftoff: Setanta Space Systems officially launched this week, founded by ESA veterans and backed by Enterprise Ireland, building AI-powered onboard computing to make spacecraft smarter and more autonomous. Ireland. In. Space
💼 FOUNDERS DIRECTORY
Fiona McEntee - Nouvie
- Role: Co-Founder | Chief Commercial Officer
- Base: Chicago
- Focus: Nouvie, a non-alcoholic wine brand designed to celebrate meaningful and everyday moments without alcohol.
- Stage: Pre-Seed / Seed
Fiona McEntee is the Co-Founder and COO of Nouvie, an award-winning non-alcoholic wine brand built to celebrate both everyday and meaningful moments. A seasoned entrepreneur and advocate, Fiona also brings over 18 years of experience as an immigration lawyer. She is the founder of the nationally recognized McEntee Law Group, which she continues to influence alongside her brother and law partner, Ray.
Fiona is also a prominent voice on immigration issues, frequently appearing on global platforms such as MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times, BBC, and NPR and has authored several guides and books, including the children's book Our American Dream and specialized guides for startups and content creators (O-1 Visa).
Outside of work she isa proud mom of two amazing kids, happiest coaching (basketball and track) and cheering them on!
🍀 The Global Irish Founder Directory | 209 Founders. Over 30 Countries. 1 Community. The Irish diaspora is building the future in every corner of the world. Are you on the map? Join the Directory | Explore the Map
💼 JOB BOARD
What Irish firms are hiring?
Strategic Account Executive at Tines. US - East (Remote). Prospect potential customers, guide them through the sales cycle.
Founding Account Executive at LiveFlow. New York (On-Site). Be be one of the first sellers on a brand-new product, operating in true 0 → 1 territory.
Forward Deployed Data Scientist at Nory. London (On-Site). Work directly with large hospitality operators to deploy Nory’s AI platform.
Partner Manager at CitySwift. United Kingdom (On-Site). Strategic partner to key accounts, building relationships and managing project delivery.
QA Engineer at EdgeTier. Dublin (On-Site). Balance hands-on exploratory testing with building and scaling automation.
Hiring? Post a job for free
🧠 BRAIN FOOD
5 other things we are snacking on this week
EU Start-ups have picked 10 Irish companies to watch out for in 2026.
Intercom seem to get a mention in this newsletter every week. But its hard not to when the New York Times are spotlighting them.
50% of Ireland’s corporation tax was paid by just three companies in 2024. Maybe time to start investing in indigenous founders?
Our great hope, Troy Parrott, sat down for an interview with Miguel Delaney (also Irish) in the UK Independent.
The most heart warming story about Michael Hopkins, a 100 year old Irish man in London. His tale of childhood abandonment to finally finding his tribe will bring a tear to your eye.
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