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đ CĂ©ad mĂle fĂĄilte! Hope you're enjoying the AI countdown so far. We're taking a break this time so we can catch you up on everything that's been happening.
It's been an incredible few weeks for Irish startups and tech, across the globe and at home. Not to mention our good friend Mark Zuckerberg decided to buy an Irish castle. A castle now owned by a new-age tech oligarch. We're not entirely sure how we feel about that, if we're being honest. Let's dig in.
Reader poll: what do you think about Zuck buying an Irish castle?
TL;DR
âïž Abroad: Stripe drops $7bn on AI gateway OpenRouter, Co Tyrone's Eamon Eastwood turned one pallet of Tayto into Australia's leading Irish food empire, while Jamie Palmer sends Tipperary robots to the ISS, Manna hits turbulence in Oklahoma, and RĂ©altra eyes a US office.
đ At home: Gary Lavin sells VitHit for âŹ75m, Kingspan pays up to âŹ900m for data-centre builder, Invest NI backs 160 firms to invest ÂŁ3.6m in innovation, and Kitman Labs secures multimillion-dollar US soccer league deal.
đ§ Brain food: Dolly Parton at PĂĄidĂ Ă SĂ©'s, Eamon Leonard on the lane Enterprise Ireland should pick, Stripe's Young Scientist returns for 2027, why two in three Irish workers come home drained, and Kevin Gallagher on Qashio.
Enjoy â
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News from abroad âïž
Eamon Eastwood - Founder & CEO at Taste
đŠđș Eamon Eastwood, one pallet of Tayto to a food empire: In 2003, Co Tyrone's Eamon Eastwood spent his life savings, roughly A$20,000, on a single pallet of Tayto and stored it in his shared bedroom in Sydney. That first consignment became Taste Ireland, now Australia's leading distributor of Irish food brands, from Barry's Tea to Kerrygold and Cadbury. Tayto alone is now stocked in more than 3,000 stores across the country. Read more
đșđž Stripe, $7bn for an AI gateway: Stripe has finalised a deal to buy OpenRouter, the AI gateway that gives developers a single doorway to more than 400 models from 80-plus providers, for more than $7bn. It's a striking mark-up: OpenRouter raised $113m in a Series B at a $1.3bn valuation just months ago. Eight million developers use the platform to switch between labs like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google without lock-in. Patrick Collison's line: tokens are the central currency for AI companies. Read more
đ°ïž Jamie Palmer, a Tipperary robot bound for the ISS: A 25-year-old from outside Clonmel is sending a robot to the International Space Station. Jamie Palmer co-founded Icarus in 2024 with Ethan Barajas, and the New York company has since raised $6.1m led by Soma Capital. Its robot Joy, which flies on fans like a submarine swims in water, will start teleoperated before progressing toward autonomy. The pitch: one astronaut supervising up to four robots could cut cargo-handling costs by around 94%. Read more
đșđž Manna, Oklahoma turbulence: Manna picked Tulsa as its US base, promising 1,000 jobs and a manufacturing plant on the back of almost 380,000 global deliveries since 2018. The welcome has been mixed. A July town hall packed out as residents raised noise, privacy, wildlife and air-traffic concerns, and the Irish Times reports its all-in bet on the US market is not off to a flying start. Read more
đȘđș RĂ©altra, doubling staff and eyeing the US: Dublin's RĂ©altra, the firm behind Ariane 6's VIKI video telemetry kit, employs 20 people and plans to reach 50 as it targets the commercial NewSpace market. It's preparing its first pitch to European VCs while doubling its workforce and opening a US office, fresh from flying six on-board cameras on Europe's flagship rocket. Read more
At home đ
VitHit has been sold by founder Gary Lavin to Vimto's maker Nichols for âŹ75m.
Kingspan will pay up to âŹ900m for Co Meath's BMC Manufacturing, extending its data-centre push into power systems.
Invest NI's Business Innovation Grant has helped 160 firms invest ÂŁ3.6m in innovation across Northern Ireland.
Kitman Labs has rapidly transformed from a niche sports performance analytics company into the operational backbone for American soccer.
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đ§ BRAIN FOOD
5 other things we are snacking on this week
Dolly Parton at PĂĄidĂ Ă SĂ©'s in Co Kerry, where she famously performed in 1990.
Eamon Leonard, expert generalist and pre-seed investor, on the lane Enterprise Ireland should pick; co-runs Baseline.
Stripe's Young Scientist returns for 2027 with a âŹ10,000 prize and a trip to San Francisco.
Two in three Irish workers arrive home drained weekly, per a new congestion and stress survey.
Kevin Gallagher, Qashio's GM Europe, on Everyday Business. Listen
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