Céad míle fáilte!

Wherever you were in the world —Dublin, Dubai, or Dunedin—if you’re Irish, there’s a good chance you were glued to a screen watching Rory McIlroy finally slip on that elusive green jacket.

What a moment. What a win. Twelve years in the making, and now the career Grand Slam is complete. irish insights is all about celebrating the success of the diaspora abroad, and it doesn’t get much better than this achievement. 👏🏻

Let’s ride that high into this week’s Irish Insights—because just like Rory, we’re swinging big. 🏌️‍♂️

To tee us off, here’s a flashback to where it all began:

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⏳ Today’s dispatch takes 4 minutes 50 seconds to read. ⏩ Only got 10 seconds? Here’s what matters:

• Collison Joins Zuckerberg’s Inner Circle as Payments soar to $1.4 Trillion

• Tackling Quiet Quitting: How L.A based start-up Dosen is Helping HR Fight Back

• 7 Irish-affiliated businesses (3 🇺🇸 | 1 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | 1 🇰🇪 | 2 🇮🇪) have collectively scored an impressive $54 million in funding!

• Ten pieces of Irish business brain food that you cant miss. 🧠

Enjoy ☕

NEWS FROM ABROAD
Collison Joins Zuckerberg’s Inner Circle as Payments soar to $1.4 Trillion

Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison has officially joined the board of Meta, after years of quietly advising the company on strategy. The move brings one of Ireland’s most influential tech minds into the fold at one of the world’s largest platforms.

It comes as Stripe continues its own impressive trajectory—processing $1.4 trillion in payments in 2024, up 40% year-over-year, and now valued at $94.4 billion.

More stories you need to know 🔍

🇪🇸 Scale Smarter in Spain: Join the Leading Edge Programme
Ready to grow globally? Spend 3.5 dynamic days in Barcelona with top CEOs and MDs, gaining expert insights, real-world strategies, and peer support to scale your business. Applications for the Enterprise Ireland 2025 Leading Edge programme are now open - Apply here.

🇺🇸 Muff Liquor Goes Stateside
Donegal’s Muff Liquor Company has launched in the U.S. with its premium potato-based Vodka, Gin, and peated Irish Whiskey. Founded by Laura Bonner and backed by celebs like Ed Sheeran and Russell Crowe, the brand brings a bold taste of Ireland to American shelves.

🇺🇸 Irish Startups Win at $200K M2D2 Challenge
Irish start-ups Lia Eyecare and Sports Impact Technologies were among the winners at the 14th annual $200K M2D2 Challenge hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell. This competition, aimed at identifying disruptive innovations in medical technology and biotechnology, featured 15 global finalists.

INSIGHTS
Tackling Quiet Quitting: How Dosen is Helping HR Fight Back

Back in August 2024, we sat down with Ronan Wall, the Cork-born CEO & co-founder of Dosen, to talk about startup life in L.A., the strength of the Irish diaspora, and what it really takes to build something from the ground up.

Did you miss it? Read the full interview HERE.

One quote from that chat stuck with us:

And that’s exactly what Dosen is doing.

🧠 So… What Does Dosen Do?

Dosen is an AI-powered workplace learning platform helping HR teams retain top talent and boost performance by making professional development more meaningful.

It works by:

• Unlocking internal knowledge

• Creating tailored training programs (onboarding, leadership, mentorship)

• Aligning learning with company goals

• Combating disengagement with personalised, purpose-driven career pathways

It’s not just about productivity—it’s about helping people grow, so businesses grow with them.

💰 The Big News: $2.3M Pre-Seed Raise

The Dosen team blends Irish grit with L.A. scale. From bootstrapped beginnings to their first enterprise customer (the European Bank), they’ve now hit a major milestone…

A $2.3M funding round, which was oversubscribed by 50%!

With U.S. businesses losing an estimated $500B annually due to disengaged employees, the cost of underperformance is massive.

This raise gives Dosen the runway to enter its next phase—refining the product and expanding to more global customers who are ready to invest in their people.

⚙️ How It Works

Dosen combines company data (like goals and structure) with employee insights (values, skills, aspirations) to build tailored learning journeys—aligning personal growth with business performance.

Some of the coolest features Dosen offers include:

✅ Rapid AI-driven program builds
✅ Career pathway mapping with Charlie, their AI coach
✅ Mentor matching, learning content, and social tools

Sounds interesting? Click here to book some time and get a demo!

🧩 Final Word

We’ve been following Dosen for a while now—and this raise shows what can happen when Irish founders go after global problems with drive and determination.

Next up for the team: – Sharpening product–market fit – Growing their enterprise reach – And maybe, just maybe, bringing the HQ back to Ireland one day.

The lads are only starting.

FUNDRAISING
7 Irish-affiliated businesses secure a combined $54 million in fundraising 🥳

🧲 Neuranics (Founder: Noel McKenna) – The Scottish (Irish-founded) magnetic sensing tech company has raised €7.3 million from backers to advance its innovative technology solutions. READ MORE

🏦 Umba (Founder: Tiernan Kennedy) – This digital bank headquartered in Nairobi has secured $5 million in debt financing to support its continued growth and expansion in the fintech sector. READ MORE

🔒 CalypsoAI (CEO: Donnchadh Casey) – The US cybersecurity company has landed $5 million in funding as it earns finalist spot in a global cybersecurity contest, strengthening its position in the AI security market. READ MORE

🔋 IceMos (Founder: Samuel Anderson) – This Northern Ireland-founded chipmaker has raised $22 million to enhance its semiconductor technology and scale operations. READ MORE

🧠 HAON Life Sciences (Founders: Mark O’Neill & Moayed Hamza) – The biotech company has secured $10.7 million in grant funding to develop innovative cell therapies addressing neonatal brain injuries caused by hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). READ MORE

💰 TaxZap (Founders: Conor Duggan & Jack O Connell) – This AI-powered web app streamlines tax filing to under 60 seconds, helping over 100,000 UK and Ireland clients with an average refund of €1,037. The fintech solution has raised $2.6 million in total funding. READ MORE

👥 Solidroad (Founders: Mark Hughes & Patrick Finlay) – The Dublin-based AI platform enhancing enterprise hiring, onboarding and training has secured $500,000 in seed funding. They are participating in the prestigious Y Combinator program and have been very creative in getting their brand in front of customers 👏🏻

🧠 BRAIN FOOD
Xi Jinping loves the GAA, €95 Million Wills, North Korea targets Ireland and Dublin Pub Guide

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

🐦 Tweet of the Week goes to Peter Ryan, who dug up this gem from the archives…

👟 Nike, Vietnam, and Trump’s tariffs—David McWilliams unpacks the global supply chain battle reshaping the world economy LISTEN HERE

🇪🇺 Ireland joins EU pact to protect undersea cables amid rising infrastructure threats READ HERE

💰 A Dublin potato farmer leaves €95M in his will—locals are stunned. READ HERE

🤖 Musk’s AI tool Grok faces a probe from Ireland’s data watchdog. READ HERE

🍻 A guide to finding the perfect pint-size pub in Dublin, with a nod to Joyce. READ HERE

🥤 Salaam Cola, led by a 26-year-old founder, takes on the soda giants in 14 countries. READ HERE

⚛️ Equal1 launches Ireland’s first quantum computer, pushing tech boundaries. READ HERE

🕵️‍♂️ North Korea is targeting Irish tech firms with covert operatives, says Google analyst READ HERE

🌍 Elkstone is uniting the global Irish to back startups and scale international growth. JOIN HERE

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