Céad míle fáilte!

Have you been following the exciting action at this year's Olympics? Team Ireland has been on fire, achieving their best-ever performance with an impressive haul of seven medals, including four gold and three bronze, as well as 26 top-10 finishes.

With everyone focused on the excitement of the Olympics, it's understandable if you haven't been keeping up with the incredible achievements of the Irish in the global tech scene. But not to worry – we've got you covered! 😀

Here’s a sneak peek of what we have in store for you this week:

• Major AI company appoints Donnchadh Casey as CEO 🇺🇸

• Chris James Murphy: Leading the Charge in Crypto Innovation 🇩🇪 🇬🇧

• Kerno Looks to the US for Expansion 🇺🇸

• Six Irish startups have raised an impressive €35.15 million in funding 🚀

• Impress your friends with the latest Irish brain food stories. 🧠

Enjoy ☕️

Major AI company appoints Donnchadh Casey as CEO 🇺🇸

CalypsoAI, a Washington, D.C.-based leader in AI security, has announced the appointment of Irish native Donnchadh Casey as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective August 6, 2024. He succeeds Founder Neil Serebryany, who will remain on the company's board.

Casey, an alumnus of UCD in Dublin, brings nearly 20 years of experience in global enterprise software. He worked at McKinsey in Dublin before joining Qualtrics, where he played a pivotal role in scaling the business to $1.8 billion in annual recurring revenue as Chief Customer Officer.

CalypsoAI, founded by Davey Gibian, Neil Serebryany, and Victor Ardulov, is dedicated to revolutionizing AI security by providing advanced generative AI (GenAI) solutions for enterprises worldwide.

The startup focuses on securing enterprises that use AI and machine learning, helping defend against adversarial attacks. Its software provides the ground truth for AI performance, reliability, and security.

CalypsoAI has raised $38.2M in funding over four rounds, with the latest on December 20, 2023. The company was founded in Silicon Valley in 2018 and has gained significant backing from investors like Paladin Capital Group, Lockheed Martin Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

The company's revolutionary GenAI Scanners offer a significant leap over legacy techniques, enabling enterprises to adapt their security posture to emerging threats.

Chris James Murphy: Leading the Charge in Crypto Innovation 🇩🇪 🇬🇧

Chris James Murphy, founder of Klink Finance, is breaking new ground in the blockchain world. His vision is clear: to make wealth creation more accessible through innovative crypto solutions, positioning Klink Finance as a critical player in the rapidly evolving crypto space.

Founded in 2022, Klink Finance offers a unique blend of task-based rewards and high-growth investment options. This platform provides users new and exciting ways to earn and grow their digital assets. Chris and his team are driven by democratising wealth creation, making it easier for people to participate in and benefit from the crypto revolution.

This week, Klink took a significant step forward by forging a long-term partnership with XVC Tech and the XDC Network. This collaboration is set to accelerate the growth of decentralized apps (dApps) and tokens on the XDC network, bringing added value to the Klink community.

Chris's journey began with a Bachelor of Business degree from Dublin City University, which laid the foundation for his entrepreneurial endeavours. Now based in Berlin, Chris leads Klink Finance, which is headquartered in London. Under his leadership, Klink Finance has successfully raised over $829.4K across three funding rounds, with the latest seed round completed in September 2023.

Kerno Looks to the US for Expansion 🇺🇸

Cork-based Kerno, a tech startup founded in 2022 by Seán Madigan and Karim Traiaia, is gearing up for a $10 million (€9.2 million) funding round to drive its U.S. expansion. Based in Buttevant, Kerno employs 11 people and has already secured €1.7 million in pre-seed funding from Elkstone, LMC, and angel investor Seán Mullaney, former CTO of Algolia.

Kerno aims to simplify software monitoring with what Madigan describes as "Google Maps for software applications" in this Business Post interview. The platform lets users quickly see how systems are connected, identifying issues without the usual complexity or cost. As cloud technologies and data grow more complicated, Kerno provides high-resolution visibility at a low cost, with deployment taking less than 10 minutes.

The idea for Kerno came to Madigan during a frustrating presentation in Utrecht. Recognizing a market need, he teamed up with Traiaia to create a solution that would save developers time and reduce costs. Supported by Enterprise Ireland, Kerno has leveraged the agency's network to connect with customers and refine its market approach.

Kerno's upcoming seed round will fuel further product development and expand its reach, with a strong focus on the U.S. market, which is expected to be its most significant.

💰 That money was just resting in my account…

A massive congratulations to the Irish-affiliated businesses that have achieved an impressive total of €35.15 million in recent fundraising victories: 🥂

Our pick of the bunch this week is Coras:

Coras is revolutionizing the way tickets are sold online! With its innovative platform, customers can easily purchase tickets for any event or activity through their favourite websites.

Coras now offers over 10,000,000 tickets, and they have partnered with top online brands like Ryanair and Air Asia to create a formidable distribution network. Check out this brief explainer video to learn more:

The latest round of funding was led by DataOp and will enable Coras to roll out Fida, a web loyalty platform that allows customers to use their loyalty points across multiple brand partners in tokenized commerce.

Mark McLaughlin, the CEO of Coras, expressed his excitement about the deal and his delight in partnering with DataOp. He emphasized the value of DataOp's experience in building and scaling successful fintech businesses, highlighting its potential to help Coras scale and launch Fida.

🧠 Brain Food

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

✈️ Former Qantas chief executive and Irishman Alan Joyce has had more than $9 million docked from his pay following a board-commissioned review of the airline’s management CLICK HERE

💸 Furthr, a cutting-edge Australian payment-linked loyalty network co-founded by Irishman Brian O’Farell has partnered up with Raiz Invest to launch their new 'Automatic Rewards' product. CLICK HERE

🤝 Stripe has acquired competitor Lemon Squeezy, a US-based payment processing start-up founded four years ago. CLICK HERE

🍲 Guess what? Nory has been featured in the prestigious Startups.co.uk top 100 startups! This Irish-founded company is tackling major challenges in the hospitality sector. CLICK HERE

📈 TechIreland report shows that Irish tech start-ups managed to raise €552m so far this year, boosted by a strong second quarter with multiple large funding rounds. CLICK HERE

🤝 Zelta AI, the Irish-founded start-up that is revolutionizing customer intelligence, has been acquired by Pendo.io to supercharge its AI capabilities. CLICK HERE