Venture capital funding for start-ups and tech companies has fallen sharply in Ireland, according to new industry figures. Cash to fund tech firms sank by 48pc to €259m in the first three months of the year, compared with €502m during the same period in 2023.
The fall, which is partly caused by a drop in international venture capital coming into Ireland, echoes a similar slump in venture capital to tech companies around the world, which was down around 20pc in the first quarter compared with the same time last year.
The biggest individual deals in the three months were Mainstay Medical (€115m) and GridBeyond (€42m). A number of notable smaller deals include Halo Technologies (€18.4m), Mybronics (€15m) and Cumulus Neuroscience (€13m).
However, early and seed stage funding deals rose, overall, with very early stage start-ups raising €40m and companies attracting between €1m and €3m more than doubling in deal value.
Overall, the life sciences sector snagged almost two thirds of all the VC funding cash available, while software came in at a comparatively lowly 9pc.
International funding into Irish SMEs in the first quarter fell by 57pc to €184m from €425m last year.