Céad míle fáilte!

This week marks a seismic shift in global affairs as Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

The inauguration of "The Donald" has dominated headlines for months and now ushers in an era of bold promises, including plans to retake the Panama Canal, rename the Gulf of Mexico, and bolster the southern border with military deployment.

Closer to home, Ireland faces growing uncertainty. With over 1,000 US companies contributing significantly to the Irish GDP, fears are mounting about the impact of Trump's proposed trade tariffs and shifting tax policies.

Dan O’Brien, Chief Economist at the Institute of European Affairs, recently called US tariffs on Irish exports the "biggest near-term risk" to the Irish and European economies, potentially jeopardizing jobs and foreign investment. (Article analysis)

On the economic front, Trump’s rise has coincided with dramatic movements in cryptocurrency. Bitcoin surged to an all-time high of USD 109,000 yesterday, fueled by investor optimism over potential crypto-friendly policies. Last week’s prediction that Bitcoin will go to $200K is now in sight. 😅

Adding to the buzz, Trump launched the $TRUMP meme coin, which saw its value skyrocket from $3 to $76.94 before settling at $53. Despite its impressive $10.6 billion market cap, concerns linger over market manipulation, as 80% of the coin’s supply is controlled by Trump-affiliated entities.

From cryptocurrency volatility to potential economic disruption for Ireland and the world, Trump’s presidency promises to be a rollercoaster.

Now, let’s get down to business…here’s a sneak peek of Irish companies and entrepreneurs achieving amazing things across the globe:

• Solidroad (YC W25) Joins Y Combinator’s Prestigious Winter 2025 Batch! 🇺🇸

• Learnosity's Leap: A New Era Under Leeds Equity Partners 🇦🇺

• Hormonal Skincare Revolution: How Fiona Toomey is Leading a Beauty Trend for 2024 🇬🇧

• Barry Conlon’s Overhaul raises $55m to redefine supply chain risk 🇺🇸

Enjoy ☕️

Solidroad Joins Y Combinator’s Prestigious Winter 2025 Batch! 🇺🇸

Solidroad, the Dublin-based AI-powered coaching platform for customer-facing teams, co-founded by Mark Hughes and Patrick Finlay, has been accepted into the highly competitive Y Combinator Winter 2025 batch, joining the ranks of legendary YC alumni like Airbnb, Stripe, Dropbox, and Reddit.

Solidroad’s platform transforms how sales and support teams train, perform, and improve. It automates quality scoring, coaching, and feedback for customer conversations across phone, email, live chat, and video, analysing 100% of simulated and live interactions to reduce onboarding times, close skill gaps, and boost performance.

• Meet the Founders 🤝

Mark Hughes (CEO): Previously founded Gradguide, which he scaled to 20 employees and exited in 2022. Mark also led Sales, Support, and Customer Success for EMEA at Chargify and was an early sales hire at Intercom. He studied Business at Trinity College Dublin and HEC Paris.

Patrick Finlay (CTO) is a second-time YC founder who co-founded Monaru. Patrick worked as a product engineer at Intercom, designing tools for sales teams, and holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Trinity College Dublin.

• What’s Next? 🚀

If you (or someone you know) are hiring over 100 reps per month for your sales or support teams and are struggling with their go-live CSAT scores or ramp times, don't hesitate to contact the lads to help them on their journey.

With Y Combinator's backing and its history of nurturing incredible startups, Solidroad is poised to scale rapidly in 2025. Congratulations to the founders for representing the Irish startup ecosystem on the world stage! Watch this space…

Barry Conlon’s Overhaul raises $55m to redefine supply chain risk 🇺🇸

Co-founded by former Irish elite Army Ranger Barry Conlon, Austin-based Overhaul provides real-time visibility on fleets and cargo for Fortune 100 companies. The company has raised $55 million in equity funding, led by Springcoast Partners and with Edison Partners and Americo participation.

This funding will enhance Overhaul’s AI capabilities, support strategic acquisitions, and strengthen its position as a trusted partner safeguarding $1.4 trillion in cargo trade with a 99.9% shipment protection rate.

Interestingly, Overhaul is transforming supply chains and fighting crime. Recently, we covered how its cutting-edge technology aided a joint operation with California law enforcement, resulting in 51 arrests, the recovery of $8M in stolen cargo, and the dismantling of a drug trafficking ring.

This investment comes at a pivotal time for global supply chains, where visibility and proactive risk management are more critical than ever. Overhaul is set to lead the way in making supply chains safer, smarter, and more efficient.

Congratulations to Barry and his team! A great start for Irish innovation across the globe in 2025! 🌍

Learnosity's Leap: A New Era Under Leeds Equity Partners 🇦🇺

Dublin-based edtech trailblazer Learnosity has made headlines with its recent acquisition by Leeds Equity Partners, a prominent US private equity firm specialising in education technology investments. While the financial details remain undisclosed, this acquisition is a massive milestone for Learnosity.

Founded in 2007 by Gavin Cooney and Mark Lynch, Learnosity has carved a niche as a leading provider of assessment infrastructure technology. With a global mission to enhance educational assessment, the company serves over 100 million learners across various disciplines. It has a global footprint, operating in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK, and employs around 100 people.  

Keen followers of irish insights, will have, of course, enjoyed our Founder Focus interview with Mark Lynch, their Sydney Founder and CSO:

"We founded Learnosity with the belief that education is the single most important investment that we can make in our futures," said Gavin Cooney, CEO and Co-Founder of Learnosity.

"This ethos remains core to the work that we do, and we have found a like-minded and world-class partner in Leeds Equity. Their experience and track record of successfully building education and vertical application software businesses will be pivotal in continuing to steward our clients' education, technology and certification needs and powering the Company's next stage of growth."

Hormonal Skincare Revolution: How Fiona Toomey is Leading a Beauty Trend for 2025

As the beauty industry evolves, hormonal skincare is emerging as a key trend for 2024 according to Fashion United, explicitly focusing on addressing skin issues linked to hormonal fluctuations. Fiona Toomey, an Irish entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in the beauty sector, leads this movement and was interviewed on the topic recently.

Based in London, Toomey has established Nayda, a company specialising in intimate wellness and hormonal health solutions. The company operates on a direct-to-consumer model through digital channels, focusing primarily on women experiencing hormonal changes and intimate health concerns.

Recent market analysis indicates significant growth potential in this sector. The menopause beauty market is projected to reach $22.7 billion by 2030, reflecting increasing consumer demand for products targeting hormonal skin concerns.

Having grown Nayda to a team of six, won multiple industry awards and been mentioned in Hello magazine (link below), Nayda is one to watch in 2025.

💰 That money was just resting in my account…

A massive congratulations to the other 8 Irish-affiliated businesses that have achieved an impressive total of over €488 million in recent fundraising victories 🥂

🩺 Novus Diagnostics (Founders: Elaine Spain, Keith O'Neill, Kellie Adamson)
Revolutionizing sepsis diagnostics, Novus Diagnostics secured €4.6M in seed funding from Enterprise Ireland, Trinity Biotech, and others.

🌊 XOCEAN (Founder: James Ives)
Delivering ocean data solutions via uncrewed vessels, XOCEAN raised €115M in a venture round led by the European Investment Bank and S2G Ventures.

📶 Druid Software (Founder: Liam Kenny)
Innovating cellular network products, Druid Software raised $20M in venture funding from J2 Ventures and HICO.

🔬 FIRE1 (Founder: Hanson Gifford)
Developing therapeutic devices, FIRE1 raised $120M in a venture round led by Novo Holdings and Elevage Medical Technologies.

🧪 Deciphex (Founders: Donal O’Shea, Mairin Rafferty, Mark Gregson)
Transforming pathology with AI, Deciphex raised €31M in Series C funding from Molten Ventures and Novartis.

💳 NomuPay (Founder: Peter Burridge)
Simplifying payments with a Unified Payment Platform, NomuPay secured $37M in Series B funding led by Finch Capital.

🩺 Vida Care (Founders: Conor Kelly, Sinead Costello)
Providing on-demand health screening, Vida Care raised €1M in an undisclosed funding round.

🤖 Jentic Technology (Founders: Dorothy Creaven, Michael Cordner, Sean Blanchfield, Tilman Schaefer)
Enabling AI integrations, Jentic Technology raised €4M in pre-seed funding led by Elkstone Capital Partners.

🩺 LetsGetChecked The Irish digital health firm that achieved unicorn status three years ago with a $1 billion valuation, has raised $165 million (€160 million) in a new Series F funding round. The company was founded and is led by Peter Foley.

🧠 Brain Food

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

📊 Ireland is recognised as an open data trendsetter in an EU report READ HERE

👷‍♂️ Enterprise Ireland announced a record employment of 234,454 in 2024, with 15,741 new jobs created, 64% outside Dublin. READ HERE

🚀 Four Irish companies - Flipdish, Wayflyer, LetsGetChecked, and Workhuman - have been recognized among Europe's fastest-growing companies. READ HERE

️🚨 Irish employees feeling the blame over cybersecurity breaches READ HERE

🦅 Irish satellite tycoon Declan Ganley among Big Tech leaders at Trump inauguration READ HERE

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