August Ireland News 2024
Cork gym software startup LegitFit to strengthen UK expansion plans with €1.7m raise
eir evo talent: The company are hiring engineers at the moment and targeting candidates with Node, Typescript, React experience.
Cork-based gym management software company LegitFit has raised around €1.74m as it looks to bolster its growth in the lucrative UK market.
LegitFit, founded in 2019, received backing from Business Venture Partners (BVP) through EIIS, venture capital fund Delta Partners and US-based TechStars. Both Delta and TechStars were follow-on investors.
Ryan O’Neill, co-founder and CEO of LegitFit, said the raise will allow the company to “double down” on its plans for the UK and other English-speaking markets like the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Dublin-based Drive acquired by Nasdaq-listed ACV Auctions
eir evo talent: The company are hiring at the moment but it will be intriguing to see how this acquisition changes any strategy or hiring plans. It is a positive exit for the company though and demonstrates the possibilities for Irish companies.
Irish automotive technology start-up Drive, the parent company of TradeBid and Nevo, has been acquired by Nasdaq-listed ACV Auctions.
Founded in 2019 by Dublin-based entrepreneurs Conor O’Boyle and Shane Ennis, Drive develops online marketplace solutions for the automotive industry.
TradeBid is a wholesale digital marketplace that allows dealers and manufacturers to buy and sell cars, while Nevo helps consumers make decisions on which electric vehicle to buy.
Government allocates €250m for early-stage Irish start-ups
eir evo talent: This news is a positive for the local ecosystem and will hopefully lead to the growth and development of more Irish startups in the coming years.
The Irish Government has allocated €250m for the Seed and Venture Capital Scheme to provide funding for early-stage Irish start-ups.
This will help Enterprise Ireland to create larger funds that can be invested in start-ups in a range of areas, from AI and life sciences to green technologies.
CroíValve raises $16m in Series B for heart valve treatment device
eir evo talent: The company have over 30 employees and we would expect will look to grow further in the wake of this funding round. The majority of employees are specialists and we would imagine they will continue to be targeting for niche skillsets.
CroíValve, a medtech start-up that spun out of Trinity College Dublin, has closed a $16m Series B funding round led by the MedTech and Irrus Syndicates.
The funding will finance an early feasibility study of its flagship product Duo to evaluate its safety and performance in treating tricuspid regurgitation.
Dublin-based MixRift bags $1.6m for mixed reality gaming
eir evo talent: The company are at very early stages and so we would imagine will look to grow over the next while though they may look to use their own network to support this.
MixRift, a mixed reality [MR] gaming studio based in Dublin, has raised $1.6m in pre-seed funding led by Outsized Ventures and Underline Ventures.
According to CEO and co-founder Bobby Voicu, ‘we’re at the very beginning of what mixed reality could do for gamers’.
Betting on a gap in the demand and supply of mixed reality games in the market, MixRift will use the funding to accelerate development of titles for headsets such as the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro.
In an announcement, the start-up said that while Meta has reportedly sold more than 20m Quest headsets, mixed reality content continues to be “thin on the ground”.
Intel confirms 15,000 job cuts globally as Kildare staff wait to hear whether they’re affected
eir evo talent: This news will likely impact a number of Irish employees directly as well as creating some doubts in others who may be considering their options.
Intel is to cut 15pc of its global workforce of over 100,000 people, the company said.
The process will begin next week, when the chip giant will offer “enhanced retirement” options, as well as voluntary redundancy packages.
However, if the 15 per cent cut in headcount is applied to the company’s Irish operations in Leixlip it will mean the loss of around 735 jobs at the Co Kildare site. The company currently employs around 4.900 people in Ireland.
Intel will focus the cuts mostly in marketing and spending on research and development, saying that it will “stop non-essential work,” and review “all active projects and equipment”.
