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- 💡 Ireland’s AI Pioneers: The Startups and Leaders Making Global Impact
💡 Ireland’s AI Pioneers: The Startups and Leaders Making Global Impact
Deep Dive #5
Stephen Mullan
October 15, 2024
AI and generative AI may be the most important technology of any lifetime
Artificial intelligence (AI) development has sparked incredible excitement among technologists, venture capitalists, and consumers (including me) in recent years.
Since OpenAI’s first public release in November 2022, AI's applications and capabilities have grown exponentially, showing no signs of slowing down – it seems the rocket is only picking up speed. 🚀
In today’s deep dive, we take great pride in sharing nine of the most thrilling Irish AI companies, leaders, and stories we’ve come across at home and abroad, all of which have profoundly impacted the industry.
Despite being a relatively small island, Ireland's influence in the tech world far surpasses its size. Many startup leaders and companies from Ireland have played a pivotal role in shaping the global AI landscape.
So, get ready to be inspired by these stories and achievements, which highlight how Ireland is quickly emerging as a powerhouse for AI innovation on the global stage.
Story Quick Find 👇
1. Intercom: Ireland’s First Unicorn Goes All-in on AI
Intercom, the country’s first unicorn startup, has made a bold pivot toward AI. Intercom’s platform, widely known for revolutionising customer communication, invests heavily in AI to enhance customer experience through chatbots, automated workflows, and predictive insights.
The company’s “all-in” approach to AI signals its intent to remain at the forefront of technological innovation and create smarter customer engagement tool that can scale globally.
Check out our deep dive on their AI pivot from earlier this year:
2. OpenAI Chooses Dublin for EU Headquarters
In a significant move that further cements Ireland's position as a global AI leader, OpenAI has chosen Dublin for its European Union headquarters. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman highlighted Ireland’s talent pool and strong governmental support for innovation as critical reasons for this decision.
OpenAI, one of the world’s most influential AI research organizations, will bring high-profile jobs to Ireland and attract other tech firms and researchers, making Ireland a strategic hub for AI development in the EU.
Enjoy Sam talking with one of our favourite sons on the impact of AI on the workforce:
3. Udio: AI-Driven Music Innovation
Conor Durkan, an Irish entrepreneur based in the States, co-founded Udio. Based in New York, Udio recently secured $10 million in Seed funding from a16z and angel investors, including William and Mike Krieger (Instagram co-founder and CTO). Udio’s AI enables users to generate custom music tracks by inputting genre, lyrics, and artist inspirations, producing a finished track in under 40 seconds.
The platform was boosted when David Friedberg praised it on the All-In Podcast, calling Udio "unbelievable" and predicting widespread use by musicians and consumers alike.
Durkan, who holds degrees from University College Cork (UCC) and a PhD in Machine Learning from The University of Edinburgh, previously worked as a research scientist at Google DeepMind before launching Udio. "It’s surreal to see Udio live," he said, highlighting his excitement for the platform’s future.
4. AccountsIQ: Revolutionizing Financial Management with AI
Another Irish success story is AccountsIQ, a financial management software startup that has secured €60 million in Series C funding.
Founded by Gavin McGahey and Tony Connolly, the Dublin-founded accounting technology company wants to build “the finance function of the future” for midsized companies: cloud-based, automated services boosted by AI to help accounting departments work faster and more intelligently.
The business (mostly bootstrapped) for nearly 20 years, was founded by accountants who saw an opportunity to build the tools they wanted. As you might expect from that pedigree, they have been fiscally prudent regarding growth.
The AccountsIQ team
Having flown under the radar, AccountsIQ looks well placed to take on the big boys like Xero with their AI-leading tech.
5. Sarah Friar: The Tyrone Native Leading OpenAI’s Financial Strategy
Open AI has a significant presence in Ireland, and Irish people are central to its development. Sarah Friar, originally from Northern Ireland, has been appointed CFO of OpenAI, a significant role within one of the most influential AI companies in the world.
Sarah Friar, CFO of OpenAI
Sarah brings extensive experience from her time at Square and Salesforce and is known for leading Square’s successful IPO, adding $30 billion in market cap. Since arriving at OpenAI as chief financial officer in June, Friar has been said to have polished a management presentation for investors to make it 'dead simple' compared to earlier fundraising pitches from the company, according to one person who saw it.
The pitch hinges largely on mouthwatering comparisons showing OpenAI is one of tech’s fastest-growing consumer products, with the fastest revenue growth in tech history, comparable only to Google and Facebook.
It seems to have done the trick, as Open AI announced a new round of investment of 6.6 billion dollars, valuing the company at a cool $157bn. As the new CFO, she is well-placed to help steer OpenAI through its next growth phase.
6. GridBeyond: AI-Driven Energy Optimization
Dublin-based GridBeyond is transforming energy management with its AI-powered platform. In April 2024, the company raised €52 million in Series C funding.
This funding will fuel GridBeyond’s expansion into the U.S. and Australian markets and further develop its AI technology, which optimizes distributed energy resources (DERs) such as battery storage and renewables. By intelligently balancing energy supply and demand, GridBeyond helps utilities and businesses reduce costs, enhance energy efficiency, and lower carbon emissions.
Gridbeyond celebrates the opening of its Australian Office.
Founded by Michael Phelan and Richard O'Loughlin, GridBeyond has rapidly scaled, doubling its team and entering new global markets. The platform enables energy stakeholders to maximize the value of their assets, generating new revenue streams while supporting the transition to a net-zero future.
With its advanced AI solutions and strategic expansion, GridBeyond is positioned to lead the global shift toward smarter, cleaner energy systems.
7. CalypsoAI: Irish Leadership in AI Security
AI security startup CalypsoAI recently appointed Irish man Donnchadh Casey as its CEO, marking another significant moment for Irish talent in global AI. Casey, who previously served as Chief Customer Officer at Qualtrics, joined CalypsoAI earlier this year.
The U.S.-based company, a leader in adaptive AI security, also announced Dublin as its Global Co-Headquarters. With plans to grow its Irish workforce to 100 people, CalypsoAI is tapping into Ireland's technology expertise to drive its mission of delivering AI security solutions for large organizations.
CalypsoAI’s platform allows enterprises to securely deploy and orchestrate AI technologies at scale, ensuring trust and security in AI implementation. The company already serves leading finance and security firms and has partnered with technology giants like Palantir and IBM Watsonx.
Casey emphasized that trust and security are essential for enterprise AI adoption and pointed to Ireland’s growing talent pool as a critical resource for the company’s ambitious global expansion.
8. Inscribe: AI-Powered Fraud Detection
Irish brothers Conor and Ronan Burke founded Inscribe, an AI-powered fraud detection service for fintech and financial institutions. After Conor’s experience in a bank's back office, where manual document reviews were costly and ineffective at catching fraud, the brothers launched Inscribe to automate the process.
Their platform uses AI trained on millions of data points to detect document fraud, offering a faster, more accurate onboarding and risk management solution. Inscribe’s platform automates tedious document reviews while incorporating fraud detection, ensuring companies can approve more customers with reduced friction and increased security.
The startup, which counts major clients like TripActions and Ramp, recently raised $25 million in Series B funding, bringing its total funding to $38 million. The Burkes plan to double Inscribe’s workforce as they expand its reach and capabilities, positioning it as a leader in AI-powered fraud detection.
9. Everseen: Vision AI Transforming Retail
Cork-based Everseen, a pioneer in AI-powered computer vision, is transforming retail operations worldwide. Founded in 2008 by Alan O'Herlihy, Everseen has developed a visual AI platform used in over 6,000 retail stores across the globe.
Its flagship product, Evercheck, helps retailers prevent losses by detecting anomalies like unscanned items at checkout. According to a recent Forrester Consulting study, Evercheck delivers a 374% return on investment (ROI) and recoups an average of $88,000 per store annually, with a break-even payback period of less than six months.
In 2024, Everseen raised €65 million in Series A follow-on funding, led by Crosspoint Capital Partners, to scale its operations. Everseen processes 300 years of video daily, using AI to turn unstructured video data into actionable business insights. The platform is linked to 80,000 point-of-sale devices, helping retailers streamline operations, reduce fraud, and enhance inventory management. Everseen’s AI solutions continue to push the boundaries of visual AI, solidifying its position as a leader in retail technology.
With companies like AccountsIQ, GridBeyond and Everseen leading the way from Ireland and major players like OpenAI establishing strong presences, Ireland is rapidly evolving into an epicentre of AI innovation.
While abroad, companies like Udio, Inscribe and people like Sarah Friar and Donnchadh Casey are proving that Irish people are central to AI development across the globe.
As 2024 unfolds, Ireland’s role in shaping the future of AI will only grow stronger because of these pioneers’ success, and the world will increasingly look to this small but dynamic nation for leadership in one of the most transformative technologies of our time.
We cant wait to cover the next tranche of people and startups in the coming years, and as always, if there are some AI leaders we haven’t covered, reply to this post and let us know. ☘️ 🤝
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