Furthr among Europe's Leading Start-Up Hubs 2024

Furthr is among the only three start-hubs that were featured from the island of Ireland (along with NovaUCD and Catalyst) in the Special report launched by the Financial Times along with its research partners Statista and Sifted. The report aims to capture the scattered network of incubators and accelerators booming across Europe. Furthr, over the last three decades, has supported over 6,000 Irish Start-Ups and facilitated over €200M in seed investment through its venture capital funds and the creation and management of angel investor networks in Ireland. 

Legitify, a Dublin-based online notarisation start-up has secured €1.5m in seed funding, led by Verb Ventures and backed by Enterprise Ireland, Actium Ventures, and Redbay Ventures. Founded by Aida Lutaj and Arko Ganguli, the company aims to expand its product offering and introduce AI to its services. 

Soothing Solutions, founded by Sinead Crowther, has been named the winner at the Guaranteed Irish Business Awards 2024 in the Healthcare sector.  Soothing Solutions, based in Dundalk, manufactures medicinal-free, child-friendly lozenges for sore throat and coughs.

The third Prep4Seed Investor readiness programme kicks off in Kilkenny

Prep4Seed Investor readiness programme, which spans 12 weeks and is delivered by the four Irish business innovation centres in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland, has kicked off in Kilkenny. Of the 12 selected companies, Wavescope, Smile Genius Dental, Inflverse, and Omuu are Furthr clients.

Dimply, a Furthr VC portfolio company, has named Jac Dunne its Chief Executive Officer. The fintech company, founded by Alan Quinlan, Colm McLoughlin, and Johnny Kane, has also raised €1.5 million in top-up funding to support its expansion across the US and the UK. Dunne said Dimply is looking to go beyond its core financial services to accelerate its growth significantly. 

GridBeyond, a smart energy company by Michael Phelan and Richard O'Loughlin, has released a new white paper titled 'The Tolls, floors and merchant models: Do higher risks mean higher returns for battery storage investors?', which indicates that investors are progressively embracing the potential of battery storage assests while strategucally managing associated risks.

CorkBIC has rebranded to AxisBIC as it expands its services to Limerick and Clare, leveraging the extensive start-up infrastructure already in the Mid-West. Simon Coveney, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment officially unveiled the name at an event in Cork city. AxisBIC is one of four Irish BICs funded by Enterprise Ireland to grow and support innovative startups that have high growth potential and can contribute to economic development in their areas.

Learnovate gets €9.6m funding from Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to expand the centre's research and innovation agenda to help Irish companies address their emerging skills gaps. The centre based in Trinity Dublin has LearnUpon, SoapBox Labs, and Skillnet Ireland in their members list alongside Zoom and Mastercard. The funding was announced by Simon Coveney, TD, Minister for Enterprise, rade and Employment. 

The EBAN Congress for 2024, hosted by the Estonian Business Angel Network in Tallinn, Estonia, will be held on 20 - 22 May. The European Business Angels Network organises the EBAN Congress annually in collaboration with a European BAN. This year, the Congress is hosted by the Estonian Business Angel Network (EstBAN).

The Dublin Tech Summit is coming back in 2024 and promises to be a thrilling event filled with a lineup of exciting speakers. The summit will take place on May 29-30 at RDS in Dublin. This tech festival is a great opportunity to unite global leaders in innovation, technology and business. Confirmed speakers include representatives from NASA, Amazon, IKEA, UNICEF, and more.

UK Government launches Unicorn Kingdom: Pathfinder Awards 

The UK's Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has launched Unicorn Kingdom: Pathfinder Awards, the department's first global tech awards to discover the most promising scale-up companies in the tech industry. Winners will receive a tailor-made programme in the UK, including meetings with leading industry and government sector specialists and invitations to VIP events and receptions. The last date for submission of applications is the 30th of April. 

The GEC is hosting an information session on the Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition. Connor Sweeney, SeedCorn Project Manager at InterTradeIreland, will deliver the session where he will share tips on how best to put your application forward and an overview of the competition.

Ready, Set, Go Furthr is a one-day interactive workshop designed for early-stage founders. The workshop is scheduled to take place on April 10th, and registrations are currently open. Additionally, our monthly Pitch Jam event will take place on April 25th, where a select few companies will pitch before a panel.