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Portia Quinn, founder of Harley & Marley with Marley, her dog
Harley & Marley
Harley & Marley is a Co Dublin-based pet food company that was founded in 2021 by Portia Quinn and Robin Thompson. What makes the Sandyford company stand out from the rest of the market is its use of fish rather than red meat in its food products for cats and dogs.
Harley & Marley products can be found in SuperValu stores across Ireland, with a partnership with Dunnes Stores in the works.
The business has forecast revenues of €600,000 by the end of the year, and €1.4 million by 2025. This is fuelled by interest in Eastern Europe in Irish fish products.
All of the fish used is sourced from Irish suppliers, with local hake, haddock and rainbow trout all finding their way into the company’s products.
Harley & Marley products can be found in SuperValu stores across Ireland, with a partnership with Dunnes Stores in the work
Eoin Hamilton, Mark Finlay, Paul Finlay and Pete Britton, founders of Hiiker
Hiiker
Hiiker is a Dublin-based start-up that has developed a platform for hikers. The business has developed a mobile application that helps people to plan and navigate hikes and walks all over the world. Hiiker was founded in 2019 by Paul Finlay, Mark Finlay, Eoin Hamilton, and Pete Britton.
The majority of the company’s users are split between Ireland, the UK and the US, but the majority of revenue comes from Ireland. The goal for the business is to increase the number of users in markets outside of Ireland subscribing to its premium version.
This summer, Hiiker partnered with Coillte to offer an innovative way for local and visiting outdoor enthusiasts to experience a Coillte forest in Co Kildare. The service includes trail distances, accessibility reports and difficulty levels. Users also get real-time updates on how busy the trail is, parking availability, food options and toilet facilities.
Kate Scott, co-founder, Holotoyz. Picture: Lorraine O’Sullivan
HoloToyz
Like so many of the companies on this list, the idea for HoloToyz was developed during lockdown. HoloToyz was founded by Kate Scott, Declan Fahy and Paul Cosgrave in 2020 and combines traditional toys with cutting-edge augmented reality technology.
Augmented reality technology uses computer-generated visual and auditory media that is overlaid on the physical world, which enhances the experience of toys or books for children.
HoloToyz produces a diverse product range, including children’s books, temporary tattoos, stickers and wall decals. Last year, the business raised
€1 million to aid its development and growth.
The company has distribution partnerships across Ireland, the UK, France, Greece, the Baltics, New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong. It has also forged a sales partnership in the US.
Shirley Gallagher and John Byrne of SLBS
Heidi Davis of Identifyher, an AI health start-up. Picture: Fergal Phillips
identifyHer
Rebranding as Peri next year, identifyHer still gets into the I section of the Hot 100 based on its current name.
The business, founded by Heidi Davis and Donal O’Gorman in 2022, uses AI-enabled technology to personalise the management of menopausal symptoms. It can also help users to reduce the risk of disease in the future.
More than seven million women across the UK and Ireland are going through menopause at any one time with over half of them negatively impacted by the symptoms.
These symptoms can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and osteoporosis. The tracker developed by identifyHer is designed to ensure users can regularly update how they are affected by their symptoms, providing physicians with a more accurate reading of their health when at scheduled visits.
Niall Collins, Institute of Sustainability Studies
Institute of Sustainability Studies
Institute of Sustainability Studies expects to quadruple its student numbers this year as it aims to train the next generation of eco-conscious professionals in topics such as biodiversity, sustainable finance and decarbonisation.
The education business, which provides an online diploma in business sustainability, was founded by Justin Cullen and Niall Collins in 2022. Like Future Planet, an earlier entry on this list, the Institute of Sustainability is meeting a corporate need created by the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
The primary markets at present are Ireland and the UK but it is also targeting Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Belgium. Having processed 250 students in 2023, the company is expecting to break the 1,000 mark by the end of 2024 with further growth coming as the CSRD comes into effect for tens of thousands of businesses operating across the EU.
Having processed 250 students in 2023, the company is expecting to break the 1,000 mark by the end of 2024
Michael Boyle, Fiona Luciani and Brendan McAuley of the International Trade Institute
International Trade Institute
The International Trade Institute (ITI), an education and training business based in Lobinstown Co Meath, specialises in training on international trade. It was founded by Michael Boyd, Brendan McAuley and Fiona Luciani in 2021. It has seven full-time staff and 40 educators working on a contract basis. To date, ITI has raised €747,000.
The three co-founders developed the idea for ITI through their prior experience working as consultants. Each of them had noticed issues with skills around international trade and felt there was an unmet need they could address.
The business focuses on improving skills around trade policy, market selection and trade compliance. The International Trade Institute has partnered with Glasgow Caledonian University to provide accredited courses to its customers, which include AstraZeneca, Deloitte and Kerry Group.
Béla Hanratty and Ross Madden of Keeling Capital
Keeling Capital
eeling Capital is a Dublin-based climate financing business that was founded by Béla Hanratty and Ross Madden in 2022. The company plans to deploy $75 million (€69.1 million) into early-stage and growth technologies by the end of 2024.
The name for the business comes from the Keeling curve, a method of measuring atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and the company’s goal is to reduce these levels. The total investment for this year will be spread across 10 to 15 fund managers who will invest in around 250 companies.
The business is deliberately using a broad spread of fund managers to improve diversification, which the founders believe will also increase the number of individual investments made as well.
Seán Madigan, CEO of Kerno. Picture. John Allen
Kerno
Kerno, an IT business based in Buttevant, Co Cork, aims to raise $10 million (€9.2 million) next year as it targets expansion in the US. Kerno was founded by Sean Madigan, Karim Traiaia, Anibel Ambertin, Maxi Delo, and Vlad Romanov in 2022. The business has 11 staff and has raised €1.7 million in funding to date.
Kerno is building a tool that is designed to aid in the management of software applications across a business. At present, Kerno estimates that developers spend almost 70 per cent of their time seeking out where problems with software lie rather than addressing the issues directly.
The map-like tool developed by Kerno is designed to cut through all of the noise in the process to reduce the time wasted and, in turn, reduce costs for businesses.
Margaret Rae, Konree Innovation, based at IHUB, ATU. Photo: Andrew Downes
Konree
Konree is a Co. Galway business that wants to make salmon healthier. The business was founded by Margaret Rae and Michael Flynn in 2021 and is developing an AI-based system that will be able to detect sea lice in a salmon pen and recommend the best termination method.
Rae was the director of the Irish Marine Institute from 2015 to 2020 and has recognised sea lice as one of the biggest issues in salmon production. Sea lice are small parasites, only 5-18 mm in size. They cling on to the host fish and feed from its tissue. This leads either to debilitation or death of the salmon.
In order to address this, Konree is developing a technology to identify and eliminate the lice early. Since the parasite stays on the outside of the fish, it is visible to a camera and the AI tools are being trained to understand when they see the lice.
Once detected, Konree’s solution can recommend a treatment to remove the lice. This can range from manually hosing down each fish, to using chemicals or relocating the fish into fresh water for a short time period.
Eran Peer and Ioana Surdu-Bob of Konvi
Konvi
Konvi, a Dublin-based business set up in 2020, is working to bring investment in luxury goods to a wide market. Customers can invest in a share of goods such as high-end bags and watches which can increase in value over time.
Founded by spouses Eran Peer and Ioana Surdu-Bob, the business has 10 staff and has raised €1.5 million to date. The idea for the business came when Surdu-Bob was watching videos about Hermes Birkin bags online. This led to a discussion between the couple about how such products gain value over time and can be investment assets.
The business intends to expand into the US, Middle East and East Asia in the near future as it seeks to widen its customer base. By the end of next year, the business aims to have at least 30 staff and be generating €20 million in revenue.
By the end of next year, the business aims to have at least 30 staff and be generating €20 million in revenue
Clare McSweeney, founder of Kuul Play
Kuul Play
Kuul Play is an edtech company founded by Clare McSweeney in 2020. It now has offices in Cork and Sacramento, California.
KuulPlay has developed a platform aimed at helping kids to become more active, and is planning to launch its first funding round later this year as it seeks to grow its presence in the US market.
The platform provides a digital software solution that empowers children to lead healthy and active lifestyles. The idea for the business came after McSweeney started working with primary schools in Cork to help get children more active and involved in sport.
Kuul Play initially partnered with Sport Ireland and Athletics Ireland before setting up a presence in the US in 2022, where McSweeney had previously been a collegiate athlete.
Mike McGrath, CEO and Martin Fitzgerald, COO of Kwayga. Picture. John Allen
Kwayga
Irish tech start-up Kwayga wants to conquer the British and European supermarket supply sector with its matching platform that connects buyers with suppliers.
The business was founded by Mike McGrath and Martin Fitzgerald in 2021 and its platform allows supermarket buying teams and suppliers to upload details of the products they either need or can supply, therefore reducing the time it takes to source products.
Since its establishment in 2021, the company has already garnered 100,000 registered suppliers and supermarkets as platform users.
While the UK expansion is the primary focus for 2024, supermarkets in Scandinavia and Malta are already using the system on a trial basis as Kwayga seeks to spread across the continent.
Aida Lutaj and Arko Ganguli, founders of Legitify
Shirley Gallagher and John Byrne of SLBS
Legitify
Legitify, a digital platform that allows for remote notarisation, is aiming to grow its customer base after launching a new iteration of its platform at the end of last year.
The business, based in Dublin, was founded by Aida Lutaj and Arko Ganguli in 2020. Lutaj noticed a gap in the market in Europe as notarisation, which is the verification of legal and financial transactions, began to move from an in-person process to an online one in other parts of the world.
Legitify has more than 1,100 clients which include start-ups, small and medium enterprises, larger businesses and individuals. While some come for one-off transactions, the business is trying to build consistent partnerships and has recently launched business plans.
Going forward, the company wants to tailor the product for specific sectors to ensure they have the best user experience. This includes financial services, legal services, transportation, maritime and healthcare.
Sinéad Buckley, co-founder and COO and Breda O’Regan, Co-founder and CEO of Lia Eyecare. Picture. John Allen
Lia Eyecare
Lia Eyecare, the Cork-based healthtech company, is aiming to create 50 jobs over the next five years as it prepares to launch its dry eye treatment in the next 36 months.
Lia has developed a technology to treat dry eye disease, a condition that affects 344 million people worldwide. The business, based in Réidh na nDoirí in west Cork, was started by Breda O’Regan and Sinéad Buckley in 2023.
The two co-founders are the only full-time staff members at present and the business expects to close a €1.5 million funding round before the end of this year. The company is aiming to gain clearance for market release by late next year, and launch the technology one year later.
Once CE certification is secured, which is expected at the end of 2025, Buckley said the business would seek further investment and grow further.
Anna Carmody, founder of Little Red Edu
Little Red Edu
Little Red Edu is a platform for early learners that uses augmented reality and speech recognition software to help them learn to speak English.
The Dublin-based business was founded by Anna Carmody, who is originally from Tullamore, Co Offaly, in 2019.
The idea came to Carmody while she was teaching English in Vietnam, where one day she deviated from the regular lesson to using a game to teach students to learn the names of animals.
The gamified curriculum of Little Red Edu guides the early learner from their first lesson through to saying their first full sentence.
For her work with Little Red Edu, Carmody was named Future Leader of the Year at the CIO Awards in 2022.
Barry and Eileen Finnegan of LVLogics at their workshop in Carnaross, County Meath. Photo: Barry Cronin
LvLogics
LvLogics is a Meath-based hardware business that provides real-time level measurements for silos.
The business is based in Oldcastle and was founded in 2019 by husband and wife team Barry and Eileen Finnegan.
The company has developed a device that is placed on top of the silo which can monitor the levels within it, providing data to the user on their smartphone while also being used by suppliers to improve logistics efficiency for managing refills.
The business has a goal of servicing 10,000 silos across 40 countries by the end of 2026 but the potential is enormous.
According to the company’s data, there are 7.5 million silos in the world but only 0.3 per cent have monitoring. This presents substantial growth opportunities for the business.
Greta Dunne, founder and chief executive of Marker Video. Picture by Fergal Phillips
Marker Video
Marker Video is the first example on this list of a business that pivoted. Founded by Greta Dunne, the business was originally called Marker Content with the goal of becoming the Shutterstock of articles for businesses.
The emergence of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT forced a substantial shift in direction from Dunne but it’s one she has embraced and thrived with.
The business has already attracted Unilever and Estée Lauder as clients to its platform which develops authentic user-generated videos for content-hungry brands.
Marker has developed a community of 100,000 creators keen to share their feelings about products they use. Individuals who submit videos can earn up to $100 per each 30-second review that is sold.
However, unlike influencers, Marker Video users aren’t provided with products from brands, or encouraged to be supportive when talking about them.
Nick Condon and Fiachra O’Driscoll, founders of MCS Tech
MCS Tech
MCS Tech is a Cork-based medical software and solutions firm that was founded by Nick Condon Jr and Fiachra O’Driscoll in 2021. The business is harnessing years of medical know-how to catapult it into markets many times the size of the Irish medical sector after landing significant new contracts domestically.
The company is relatively young but draws its inspiration from MCSupport, a medical billing firm founded in 2015 by Nick Condon Sr.
MCS Tech, which posted revenues of €245,000 last year, sells in-house developed software and cloud-based solutions to private healthcare providers in Ireland that aims to improve their revenue cycle management.
Its software helps healthcare providers track pending and ongoing transactions across many layers of their business, which in several cases replaces the traditional paper-based model that many hospitals are still partially or fully dependent upon.
The company has grown to seven staff and aims to more than double the headcount to 15 within the next year, with revenue also expected to more than double to €650,000 this year.
Dr Martin Rochford and Seamus Cooley, co-founders of MedoSync. Photo Fennells
MedoSync
Is it a fintech or is it a healthtech? In the case of MedoSync, the answer is both. The business was co-founded by Martin Rochford and Séamus Cooley in 2019 and has developed a paperless service for medical billing.
The goal of the business is to help hospitals prevent revenue leakage, with MedoSync estimating that up to 9 per cent of hospital revenue is lost annually due to poor billing processes.
The idea to start MedoSync grew out of Rochford’s own experience as an A&E consultant in Tallaght hospital. He found the process there archaic and felt that a more efficient option was surely possible.
MedoSync’s first customer was Laya Healthcare, working on its clinics, and it has added Affidea, Bon Secours, VHI and Irish Life as clients since.
The goal of the business is to help hospitals prevent revenue leakage
Brian Byrne, founder and chief executive of Mesh Security
Mesh Security
Mesh is officially based in Sandyford in Co Dublin, but it is an unashamedly remote-first business that plans to grow entirely with that approach.
Founded in 2020 by Brian Byrne, Ralph Casey and Daimhin Kavanagh, Mesh is an email security solution that primarily helps managed services providers (MSPs).
Essentially, the email security options available to MSPs were difficult to scale, as most of these systems involved having one large client with one point of contact to enable all the updates. For MSPs, it’s that multiplied by 100 across a range of clients.
Mesh has reduced that complexity for clients through its platform, enabling a more scalable security solution for MSPs.
Mick Higgins, chief executive of Message My Customer
Message My customer
Message My Customer, a Dublin-based business, aims to have revenues of €1 million this year as it targets expansion into the US.
The business provides a payments solution called Payemoji through traditional messaging apps, such as WhatsApp or Messenger, to replace the need for separate apps or terminals.
The business was started in 2021 by Mick Higgins, Damien Stephens and John Daryl O’Regan. Message My Customer has 15 staff and has raised €4.1 million in funding to date.
Message My Customer has started selling into Ireland and the UK and is in the process of rolling out in the US as well.
Fiona Kelleher, founder and chief executive of MyGug
MyGug
MyGug, a greentech business, has ambitions to change the way we think about food waste and it all involves a colourful egg.
MyGug has developed a device used to convert bio-waste into energy. The business was founded by Fiona Kelleher and Kieran Coffey in 2021 and is based in Clonakilty, Co Cork.MyGug has four staff and has raised €900,000 to date.
The business opted for an egg design for the product as they wanted something that would stand out for users.
MyGug has been focused heavily on product development up to now. It has made sales both in Ireland and the UK. Since the start of this year, the business has become more focused on growth.
MyGug aims to develop partnerships over the next 12 to 18 months with companies seeking solutions around food waste. MyGug is aiming to increase its presence in the UK and expand into Germany as well during that period.
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