While pulling together this newsletter, I struggled with ideas for the introduction.

But as I collated the top stories, an undeniable trend emerged: Ireland is rapidly becoming the epicentre of AI innovation.

In 2024 alone, irish insights has reported on exciting AI announcements:

• Microsoft CEO praises one of Ireland's oldest organisations, An Post, for adopting AI.

• Ireland's first ever Unicorn Intercom “Goes all-in” on AI.

• Open AI chose Dublin for its EU HQ, with CEO Sam Altman stating that “Ireland blends a talented workforce with support for innovation”.

• Udio, a highly rated AI music generation tool founded by Irish man Conor Durkan, raised 10 million, while 600,000 people tested the platform out in its opening two weeks.

Adding further credibility to my claim, this week's AI highlights include a Tyrone woman appointed CFO of Open AI, an Irish founder abroad being lauded for saving her startup $1.5 million a month through her AI strategies and at the bottom of this post, incredibly, five AI-focused startups based in Ireland raised a cool € 74 million euro. 👀

Given these achievements, it's clear that Ireland is at the heart of the global AI revolution.

And yet, amidst these incredible advancements, there's one thing AI will never master—a timeless meme…

Here are the most prominent global Irish business and tech stories this week:

• Tyrone Woman is the new CFO of OpenAI 🇺🇸

• Reejigging the Future: Siobhan Savage's AI-Driven Revolution 🇦🇺

• SPRYT Secures Victory at European Start-up Pitch Fest 🇪🇺

• We celebrate a bumper few weeks of investment announcements with ten Irish startups securing €136 million in funding. 💸

• For better or worse, Ireland is inextricably linked to Guinness, and the famous stout has been killing it in recent weeks. Find out how and why in this week’s brain food. 🧠

Enjoy ☕

Tyrone Woman is the new CFO of OpenAI 🇺🇸

Exciting news in the AI universe! The talented Sarah Friar has just stepped into the role of Chief Financial Officer at OpenAI. If you've lived under a rock these last few years, OpenAI is a powerhouse in generative AI, known for its incredibly popular ChatGPT.

Her appointment is seen as a signal that OpenAI is preparing for an IPO. Hailing from Sion Mills, Co Tyrone, Sarah has an impressive record of preparing tech companies for public offerings. She previously led an IPO as Chief Executive Officer at Nextdoor and served as Chief Financial Officer at Square.

Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, is confident in Sarah's potential to drive the company's growth and operations. At the same time, CTO Mira Murati couldn't resist commenting on Sarah's new role, hinting at an exhilarating “new phase” for OpenAI – no pressure!

Her arrival perfectly aligns with OpenAI's expansion in Ireland, and with her expertise, OpenAI is destined to reach even greater heights and lead the charge in the AI world.

Reejigging the Future: Siobhan Savage's AI-Driven Revolution 🇦🇺

Reejig, co-founded by Irish entrepreneur Siobhan Savage, Mike Reed, and Dr. Shujia Zhang, has been at the forefront of workforce intelligence since its launch in 2019.

Headquartered in Sydney, this groundbreaking platform is powered by the world’s first independently audited Ethical Talent AI. Reejig has garnered numerous accolades quickly, including Forbes' Cloud 100 Rising Star, World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneer, and Human Resource Executive's "Product of the Year" for 2023. 🏆

In 2022, Reejig secured a $21 million series A investment after attracting top clients such as Woolworths, KPMG, NSW Government, John Holland, MYOB, and UTS.

Vision 👁️
Reejig's mission is simple yet powerful: zero wasted potential in people and business. Their platform provides 100% visibility into employees' skills, potential, passions, and experiences, creating a dynamic central nervous system for talent decisions.

Intriguing Facts 🧐

💡 Reejig employs over 50 AI and 40 flex workers, optimizing collaboration between humans and machines.

💡By automating high-impact tasks, Reejig reported saving $1.5 million monthly, freeing employees for more strategic work.

💡 Reejig’s innovative AI, Hermes, manages demo bookings, reducing the need for a large sales team while increasing efficiency. This AI-driven approach has led to more meetings and successful deals.

💡Savage led the integration of AI into Reejig’s operations, treating AI as an essential part of the workforce. Despite initial resistance, this bold move fostered a proactive, AI-driven culture within the company.

SPRYT Secures Victory at European Start-up Pitch Fest 🇪🇺

SPRYT, an innovative Irish digital health start-up, celebrated a remarkable victory at the HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) Europe Start-up Pitchfest in Rome.

The company began its journey in 2017 and was co-founded by Daragh Donohoe, Neill Dunwoody, and Shaun Dodimead. They beat off some tough competition, including Briya, which raised over $17 million in its last funding round.

Their incredible platform is designed to predict no-shows and ensure that patients attend their appointments. It operates through popular messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Messenger, making healthcare more accessible and convenient for patients. HIMSS organizers say it is revolutionizing workflows in the medical space.

🚀 Spryt's Potential:
💡 Addressing a Global Issue: Missed medical appointments cost the global healthcare system an estimated $1 trillion annually. Spryt's mission is to tackle this significant problem by ensuring patients attend their scheduled appointments, thereby improving global hospital efficiency and patient care.

💡 Scaling Up with NHS Partnership: Spryt has already made significant strides by partnering with NHS North Central London. This collaboration aims to streamline cancer screening appointment booking and rescheduling.

💡 Enhancing Medical Staff Efficiency: By automating the scheduling process, Spryt frees up valuable time for medical staff to focus on patient care and reduces waiting lists.

Speaking about the award, Co-founder Neill Dunwoody was thrilled with the result and sees it as significant validation from industry leaders. He hopes the win will open up opportunities in Europe and the US and is ready to shake things up by transforming clinical admins from gatekeepers to care facilitators!

Fundraising News 🚀

It’s been a very busy few weeks for investment, with ten Irish have achieved a whopping total of just over €136 million in fundraising recently:

℀ AccountsIQ has secured €60,000,000 in a Series C funding round. The company was founded by Gavin McGahey and Tony Connolly. AccountsIQ provides affordable financial management software for mid-size and group organizations, ideal for businesses that have outgrown their existing systems.

🌊Xocean has raised €30,000,000 in a Series B round. Founded by James Ives, XOCEAN offers ocean data collection services using unmanned surface vessels, providing turnkey solutions from mobilization to raw data delivery.

👶🏻 MoveAhead has raised €1,500,000 in a seed round. The company offers a digital platform for children, providing personalized play and feedback for their engagement and growth. Dogpatch Labs is a significant investor.

📹 Overcast HQ has secured €1,100,000 in a venture round. Co-founded by Philippe Brodeur and Zsolt Lorincz, Overcast provides robust video management solutions that streamline how businesses review, approve, and collaborate on video using AI.

🎓 The CX Academy has raised €1,500,000 in an undisclosed funding round. The CX Academy, founded in 2018, is the industry standard for professional accreditation in Customer Experience learning.

Inspeq AI has raised €1.65m in a seed round. Founded by Apoorva Kumar, Inspeq AI uses metric-based evaluation to improve model performance, detect low factual accuracy, and prevent errors before serving to end-users.

🩺 Spectrum Life has secured €17,000,000 in a Series B round. Founded by Sarah O'Neill, Stephen Costello, and Stuart McGoldrick, Spectrum Life is a health tech company providing clinical services, tech infrastructure, and access to personalized care.

🧑‍💻 Zartis has secured €10 million investment from Development Capital, the leading Irish growth capital fund. John Dennehy founded Zartis, a digital solutions provider specializing in building cutting-edge software with bespoke development teams.

🤖 Graphite Note has raised €1,200,000 in a seed round. Founded by Hrvoje Smolic and Vinnie Lynch, Graphite Note simplifies the use of Machine Learning in analytics by helping business users generate machine learning models without coding.

🔐 OnSecurity, an Irish-founded cybersecurity company based in the UK, has secured €6.5 million in investment to support the firm’s plans for growth. The company is led by Conor O’Neill.

A huge congratulations to these fantastic companies from the Irish Insights team! 👏👏

🧠 irish insights Brain Food

Here is your quick serving of Irish Insights-related wins, trends, events, media and resources that you’ll enjoy digesting 🍽️:

Starting with the 2024/25 season, Guinness is the Official Beer of the Premier League under a four-year agreement. Additionally, Guinness 0.0 will be the league's official non-alcoholic beer.

The news only gets better for the famous Irish stout. According to RTE, its popularity in London and the UK generally has reached new heights, with Guinness recently overtaking Carling as the UK's favourite pint. Sales have increased by 24%, especially in London's trendy bars.

Who can Guinness thank for this renaissance?

It's the Irish pub you subliminally yearn for every time you head on holiday. Forbes reports there are now 7,000 Irish pubs globally, with an impressive 4,000 in the United States alone. The Independent offers a behind-the-scenes look at the ex-pats running some of the best of these iconic establishments.

In the spirit of the newsletter theme, here’s an AI interpretation of our celebration of all things Irish in the form of AI and Guinness:

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