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‘Mega-deals’ lift Irish VC investment in Q1

A report from professional-services firm KPMG says that the first quarter (Q1) of this year was Ireland’s strongest in “several years” for venture-capital (VC) investment. 

This contrasted with Europe overall, where the value of deals was flat compared with the previous quarter, and the number of deals fell amid political and economic uncertainty. 

KPMG’s Q1’25 Venture Pulse Report stated that the Irish increase was led mainly by a few ‘mega-deals’.

Fintech and medtech sectors lead 

These included US$125 million raised by AI-powered productivity-software company Tines, a $120 million deal involving medical-device company Fire1, and $120 million raised by ocean-data services company Xocean. 

KPMG said that fintech and medtech sectors in Ireland continued to attract significant interest from VC investors, due to their “robust innovation eco-systems and strong talent base”, with AI-linked firms also receiving significant investment over the quarter. 

“While positive coming into 2025, the sentiment of VC investors in Ireland was one of caution in the latter half of Q1 amid rising geo-political uncertainties,” the report says.