Céad míle fáilte!

We started Irish Insights because we kept spotting something mad and a bit frustrating – an ever-growing wave of Irish founders building bloody brilliant startups all over the world... and barely getting a mention.

One of those early “wait a second” moments for me was Intercom – a global SaaS giant with Irish DNA coursing through its veins. So when I woke up this week to read about their Lazarus-level comeback, I had to smile.

Returning CEO Eoghan McCabe gem of a tweet outlined how they went from struggling NRR (net revenue retention, for the acronym lovers) to 7x-ing ARR growth in less than a year. Not bad.

Eoghan embraces celebrating success, which is refreshing. There are too many “sure it was nothing” Irishisms, and I bet this self-promotion stems from the startup's focus on Silicon Valley's world capital of self-promotion.

Fair play to Eoghan and the Intercom crew – it also gives me the perfect excuse to dust off and update our very first ever Irish Insights Deep Dive from way back in December 2023, where we covered Intercom’s origin story and product rethink 👇:

Now then, let’s get down to business. This week's jam-packed dispatch is 4 minutes and 5 seconds to read.

⏩ Only got 10 seconds? Here’s what matters:

• In News From Abroad, five Irish startups mark their mark across the globe. While Brightflag just notched one of the biggest Irish SaaS exits ever. 🌍

• In Fundraising news, Solidroad confirms the Irish founder exodus after raising $6.5M in San Francisco. Meanwhile, €54 million was raised across six Irish-led companies. 💸

• In Brainfood, we cover Turtles in Temple Bar, Cluxton being a gent, and Ed Sheeran saying what half the diaspora is thinking. 🧠

Enjoy ☕

NEWS FROM ABROAD
Brightflag’s €425M Exit Just Raised the Bar for Irish Tech 🇳🇱

Brightflag, the AI-powered legal ops platform founded by Ian Nolan and Alex Kelly, has been acquired by Dutch firm Wolters Kluwer in an all-cash deal worth €425 million.

From pitching on campus to powering legal departments across the globe, Brightflag’s rise is one for the books – and the bank accounts.

💥 €27M ARR (95% recurring revenue)
📈 36% YoY growth in 2024
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 155 employees
🇺🇸 60% US customers
🧠 Now part of Wolters Kluwer’s global team

It’s the largest exit ever for an NDRC-backed company and one of the sharpest legal tech acquisitions in years → Full post.

One of Brightflags’ earliest investors couldn’t have put the achievement more eloquently:

Fair play, lads. 🇮🇪

More stories you need to know 🔍

🇺🇸 VIOTAS Charges into Texas with €10M in Tow
Limerick-based VIOTAS secured €10M in growth debt from Claret Capital to turbocharge its US expansion. This is following a 40% revenue growth and being ranked #10 on Deloitte’s Fast 50.

They’ve set up shop in Houston, taking on ERCOT – one of the most volatile energy markets on the planet – with real-time smart grid tech that turns factories into flexible energy responders. → Read the post

🇺🇸 Embedded Insurance Goes Stateside
Cork-founded Kayna, the low-code insurtech platform by Paul Prendergast and Peter Bermingham, is embedding real-time cover into SMB software tools – and now they’re taking it to the US and UK.

Fresh off winning InsurTech NY, Kayna is hiring 13 new team members and expanding globally – all while doubling down on its Cork HQ.→ Read more

🇳🇿 Wych Signs Kiwibank Down Under
Ireland-founded fintech Wych is rapidly growing as Australian banks adopt open banking. The CEO of NZ’s Kiwibank announced a huge partnership with Wych. Check out last week's Founder Focus from Dermot Butterfield for more details.

FUNDRAISING
Solidroad raises $6.5M to make customer support work 🇺🇸

Solidroad, the Dublin-founded startup rethinking customer service, just banked a $6.5M seed round led by First Round Capital, with support from Y Combinator and angel investors who know a thing or two about scaling.

The duo behind it? Mark Hughes and Patrick Finlay, who cut their teeth building CX tools at the aforementioned Intercom, before launching Solidroad to fix the industry from the inside out.

Their approach: Don’t replace people with AI. Train them better. Solidroad reviews every customer interaction and delivers live coaching, onboarding simulations, and tools to keep agents sharp (and sane). As Mark puts it:

Give them a follow here – they're building one of the most creative CX platforms out there.

Meanwhile, here are five additional Irish-affiliated businesses that have secured a combined €47.45 million in fundraising 🥳

🧪 Poolbeg Pharma
Dublin-based biotech tackling infectious diseases, Poolbeg has raised $4.1M in post-IPO equity funding. Led by CEO Jeremy Skillington, the team of 40 is building novel treatments from the heart of Ireland’s life sciences scene.

🧼 Chemishield
Founded by Kevin Walsh, this Tramore-based startup is digitising chemical compliance for labs. The funding amount is undisclosed, but Chemishield’s platform is already cleaning up lab safety workflows across Europe.

💳 NomuPay
With $40M in corporate funding under its belt, NomuPay is scaling a unified payments platform across Europe and Southeast Asia. CEO Peter Burridge, a former PayPal and AmEx exec, is steering the fintech from its Dublin HQ into the global fast lane.

📊 Outmin
Founded by David Kelleher and Ross Hunt, Outmin is bringing AI-powered accounting to SMEs. With €4M raised, 60+ clients onboard, and automated bookkeeping that works, they’re well on their way.

🧠 Anam
This London-based AI company, co-founded by Irish entrepreneur Caoimhe Murphy and Ben Carr, has secured €9M to power next-gen language intelligence and market insights. Still a bit stealthy – but one to watch.

🧠 BRAIN FOOD
Turtles in Temple Bar, Cluxton’s Class, Stripe Goes STEM and Brendan the Bot Takes Dublin

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

🐢 Turtle Power in Temple Bar: Dublin’s Murakami Wolf Studio quietly helped animate the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in the '90s – and even inspired an Irish-themed episode in 1997:

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🧪 Stripe signs on as BT Young Scientist sponsor, backing Ireland’s next generation of founders with a nod to education and innovation that starts well before Series A territory. →READ HERE

💌 Letter of the Day: Stephen Cluxton and the importance of being nice: the Dublin keeper was still signing autographs over an hour after full-time – a quiet moment of class that’s gone viral. →SEE LETTER

🎤 Ed Sheeran says he’s culturally Irish, sparking lively debates with a proud nod to his roots. “That’s mad – but fair,” said everyone’s uncle at once. →READ IT HERE

💊 Ireland tops pharma chemical exports per capita, according to a chart doing the rounds on Reddit – proving again we’ve got global impact packed into every molecule. →VIEW CHART

🌍 Google reaffirms commitment to Ireland, with CEO Sundar Pichai praising the country's role in its EU strategy despite regulatory pressures and Trump-era flashbacks. →READ HERE

🏭 Ireland surpasses Canada in manufacturing output, showing how far tech, pharma, and advanced industry have pushed the island’s productivity into global heavyweight territory. →READ HERE

📈 Dan O’Brien on why multinationals still love Ireland: The economist argues FDI isn’t slowing – it’s adapting, and Ireland’s still high on the list thanks to tax, talent, and trust. →READ HERE

🏗️ KCB opens a new Irish office in Kildare, with IDA Ireland’s backing, showing investment is flowing beyond Dublin and into the heart of the country. →READ HERE

⚡ Celsius chooses Dublin for its global hub, with CEO John Fieldly calling the move key to scaling the billion-dollar energy drink brand across Europe and beyond. →READ MORE

🧠 Silicon Ireland courts Nvidia and others, as the country positions itself to lead in European chip production – a big bet with an even bigger upside. →READ HERE

🗺️ Brendan, the AI tour guide, launches in Dublin, offering multilingual city insights with a touch of tech flair. →MORE HERE

🕵️ Rippling vs Deel spy case gets messy, with fresh allegations tied to Irish offices revealing just how wild corporate drama in tech can get. →CATCH UP

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