At first glance, you’d be hard-pressed to pick out similarities between An Post, Ireland's publically run supplier of postal, e-commerce and financial services and OpenAI, the AI research and deployment company behind ChatGPT.

OpenAI is undoubtedly the most talked about company in the world at the moment, it dominates social media traffic, tech blogs and even more traditional media sources. The platform is revolutionising the way millions of people interact with technology, with millions of use cases in making people more efficient.

While An Post tends to get noticed online when a resourceful rural postman manages to decode a cryptic letter addressed to 'Your man Henderson, that boy with the glasses':

Both are impressive feats at polar opposite ends of the technological spectrum. But in recent weeks both OpenAI and An Post have been at the forefront of one of the most powerful men in tech’s mind.

Incredibly Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft praised An Post’s use of their new AI CoPilot, which they have been using to create custom copilots during the Microsoft 2024 Earnings Call:

While pre-Christmas the same man was also at the centre of the OpenAI-Sam Altman board feud which took the global tech community by storm.

It’s super exciting to read about Irish organisations not known for tech transformations embracing AI and getting recognised as an early adopter on the global stage, Kudos to An Post’s CTO Des Morley and team. 👏

This openness to innovation undoubtedly goes a long way in attracting companies like OpenAI to Ireland which has committed to using Dublin as their EU headquarters,  where It already employs over 50 in an office on St Stephen's Green.

This Weeks Dispatch 📖

We have some incredible stories of Irish innovation from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and the UK:

• Bootstrapped Brilliance: Irish duo John Briggs and Fergus Ashe Lead Screendragon to €25M investment 🇬🇧 🚀

• Irish man Shane Doolan Leads Adatree to Multi-Million Dollar Acquisition by Fat Zebra 🇦🇺 🚀

• From Quantum Theory to Quantum Leap: Joe Fitzsimons Pioneers Horizon Quantum Computing's European Expansion ☘️ 🇸🇬

• Ticket to the Skies: Coras Takes Flights with AirAsia Movetix Partnership 🇲🇾🎟️

Enjoy! ☕

Irish man Shane Doolan Leads Adatree to Multi-Million Dollar Acquisition by Fat Zebra 🇦🇺 🚀

The Sydney-based fintech founded in 2019 by Shane Doolan and Jill Berry, operates an Open Banking intermediary platform used by one of the big four banks, Newcastle Permanent, BankVic and a host of smaller financial institutions in Australia.

The acquisition price was undisclosed, but it is said to be in the tens of millions of dollars. Berry, the Adatree CEO, says the acquisition by Fat Zebra opens up new opportunities for its team, business, and 'product roadmap.'

Adatree enables companies to access regulated and consented data-sharing covering a range of uses, including loan assessment reporting, energy and banking comparison, real-time broker portfolio tracking, and personal financial management. It facilitates this by connecting to 114 banking data sources covering 99.73% of the household banking market share and 20 energy companies.

Co-founder Dooley has been at the forefront of Australia's digital banking transformation since emigrating in 2014. Holding senior engineering roles at Tyro Payments and Volt Bank, before setting up Adatree. Before this, he completed his studies at the Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone Campus in 2009.

Congrats to Shane and the team on such an exciting outcome which will boost open banking adoption in Australia. 🌐

H/T 🎩: Adatree

From Quantum Theory to Quantum Leap: Joe Fitzsimons Pioneers Horizon Quantum Computing's European Expansion ☘️ 🇸🇬

Fitzsimons co-founded Horizon Quantum Computing in 2018 to democratise quantum computing and bridge the gap between classical code and quantum-accelerated applications. Since then, the Singapore-based startup has raised an impressive $18.1 million in Series A investment, valuing the company at $112 million. 🚀

Horizon Quantum Computing's success is not limited to Singapore. Recently, Fitzsimons established an EU base for the company in Dublin, Ireland, signalling the expansion of Horizon's footprint in Europe.

This move aligns with Fitzsimons' vision to tap into the supportive ecosystem in Europe. This week, he was cited in a Euronews article praising initiatives like the EU-funded Quantum Flagship program for being a great support in developing the industry.

Before founding Horizon Quantum Computing, Fitzsimons held a tenured position as an associate professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. He also spent time researching at the University of Oxford. During this period, he co-invented universal blind quantum computing, which has since become recognised as an important enabling technology for securing cloud-based quantum computing.

Investment and development in this sector are at an all-time high, and it's incredible to have an Irishman at the forefront of its development globally. 🖥️

_{Ticket to the Skies: Coras Takes Flights with AirAsia Movetix Partnership} 🇲🇾_🎟️

This week, Malaysian Airline AirAsia revealed its collaboration with Coras, an innovative Irish event ticketing platform. With "Movetix," passengers can now conveniently access thousands of events via a cutting-edge global ticketing platform within the airline super-app, enhancing their overall travel journey.

Coras Founder Mark McLaughlin expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership:

Founded in 2015, Dublin HQ’d Coras aggregates multiple ticketing software systems into a single API so online brands can sell tickets across multiple geographies and genres from live music to sports, theatre, and tourist attractions. Their tech is used by the likes of Ryanair, Pegasus Airlines, and the Italian football team Bologna.

U2's The Edge is one of the startup's backers having invested in their €1.9 million funding round in 2020.

Congratulations to Mark and the team on another impressive global partnership. 🎉🤝

Bootstrapped Brilliance: Irish duo John Briggs and Fergus Ashe Lead Screendragon to €25M investment 🇬🇧 🚀

Screendragon, a London HQ’d SaaS-based workflow automation company with operations in Cork, has been a leader in the Martech world for two decades, consistently staying at the cutting edge of cloud technology innovation.

Despite facing tough competition, including giants like Adobe, Screendragon has carved its niche, providing a cloud-based automated workflow management solution for marketing, agency, and professional services teams.

The recent €25 million investment marks a significant milestone for Screendragon, allowing the company to scale globally. Impressively this is the first round of external investment since the company was founded in 2001.

With plans to double its headcount at the Cork-based operation and a focus on expanding in the US, Screendragon is very much poised for further growth. With noteworthy clients, including Kellogg's, BP, and Virgin Atlantic, they have a strong customer base to fuel their global expansion aspirations.

Co-CEO Briggs expressed excitement about the partnership with their new investors Kennet Partners, "We are looking forward to using this investment and adding resources to accelerate sales, product roadmap, and growth objectives while continuing to deliver the innovative technology and support our existing clients have come to expect."

With Irishmen John Briggs and Fergus Ashe at the helm, Screendragon is well-positioned for 2024 to be the year of the dragon. 🐉

🧠 DIA Brain Food

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

🚀 Founders Accelerator creates over 20 new Irish tech startups, with eight selected for €100,000 investment. The accelerator, which is operated by Dublin startup hub Dogpatch Labs is a 12-week programme which selected 40 individuals to team up to start 20 new companies.

🔍 Exploring Irish Innovation: 10 startups to watch in 2024 and beyond. The list was compiled by EU Startups.

⭐ “Ireland’s so beautiful” - Lindsay Lohan on filming her new movie “Irish Wish”. Lindsay Lohan filmed her new Netflix romcom "Irish Wish" on location in Ireland where she says the "people are so friendly."

🇺🇸 Irish Government Invests in Chicago - Approximately 50 Irish companies in the region have already generated 7,000 to 8,000 jobs, with the potential for this number to more than double in the future.

🇪🇺 Ireland to Join Europe Startup Nation Alliance -This alliance brings together 20 European nations in a collaborative effort to cultivate high-value technology companies and foster the birth of "unicorns.

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