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Daniel McConnell

Business Post editor

Ireland has long been a fertile ground for innovation, entrepreneurship and bold
thinking but now more than ever, it’s time to shine a spotlight on the next
generation of game-changers. The Business Post’s Hot 100 Start-Ups supplement
celebrates the energy, creativity and resilience of Ireland’s emerging
businesses. These companies are not just shaping industries — they are fuelling
economic growth, creating jobs and transforming local communities.

From Mayo-based payroll software business Payslip, which was started by Fidelma
McGuirk and has to date raised €12.4 million, to cloud software business
Greyscout which raised €3.5 million in seed funding last year, these companies
are among the greatest in fresh thinking and dynamic business leadership on
display here in Ireland.

In conjunction with our partners in Enterprise Ireland, the Business Post is
delighted to celebrate the best in Irish ingenuity, entrepreneurship and
endeavour. Start-ups are the lifeblood of a vibrant economy. They bring fresh
ideas, disrupt traditional models, and challenge established players. From tech
innovators to sustainability pioneers, the Hot 100 Start-Ups represent the best
of what Ireland has to offer.

By highlighting their stories, we’re championing the brave entrepreneurs who
dare to build something new, who see opportunities where others see obstacles.

But it’s more than just celebrating success; it’s about fostering a culture of
innovation and inspiration. When we spotlight these start-ups, we encourage the
next wave of founders to follow their dreams and push the boundaries. We show
that Ireland is a dynamic hub for start-up activity, attracting investment,
talent, and global attention.

This list is not just a testament to hard work and ingenuity — it’s a glimpse
into the future of business. These 100 companies are the ones to watch, and
we’re proud to champion them in our supplement. We hope you enjoy our list.

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Barry Sherry,  co-founder and  chief executive of ACEL Energy

Acel Energy 

Acel Energy is based in Monaghan town and wants to bring solar charging in all
of its forms to a wider audience. Founded in 2022 by Barry Sherry and Declan
McDonald, Acel sells solar panels, battery storage and energy management
systems, developed by third parties and connected by its own management software
solution, to businesses.

Sherry and McDonald each bring significant experience to the business. Sherry is
the former head of energy solutions at Kingspan while McDonald is the previous
owner of renewable energy company Eco Systems.

The company’s vision is for rural charging stations to be set up close to
renewable energy sources such as wind or solar farms, with the battery acting as
a buffer to bridge any lack of wind or sun.

The company’s vision is for rural charging stations to be set up close to
renewable energy sources

Affinity EV founder Raj Lyons

Affinity EV

Co Galway-based Affinity EV has big goals and is racing towards a target of
having 5,000 dealerships using its electric vehicle (EV) charging platform by
the end of this year.

Founded in 2020 by Raj Lyons, the business is based in Ballinasloe. Affinity
provides a link between EV makers and energy companies to enable dealerships to
sell an all-in-one offering to customers when purchasing an EV.

The platform is the first of its kind in the world and the business has created
a method where the dealer can sell all the services required on the energy side
as part of the transaction for the physical EV itself.

Lyons got the idea from his prior 16 years working in the auto industry. He
recognised that the shift to EVs was happening, but the sector wasn’t ready for
all it entailed.

Last year, Affinity launched in the UK through a partnership with the Peter
Vardy Group.

Conor McGinn and  Niamh Donnelly of Akara Robotics

Akara Robotics 

There are robots that clean and then there are robots that take the concept to a
medical level. Akara Robotics, a spin-out from Trinity College Dublin, has
developed ultraviolet light-based disinfection robots.

The business was founded by Niamh Donnelly, Conor McGinn, Cian Donovan and
Eamonn Burke in 2019. The robots developed by Akara are designed to clean rooms
autonomously by learning the room structure of a hospital, for instance, and
disinfecting where it can reach with the UV light.

This helps to substantially reduce the amount of time the staff need to spend
manually cleaning a room. According to the founders, the time staff spend
cleaning can be measured in seconds rather than minutes once the robots are
deployed.

Ross McDowell and Niall Harty, co-founders of All Real Nutrition



Ross McDowell and Niall Harty, co-founders of All Real Nutrition

All Real 

Keeping things natural is the focus of Co Kerry-based All Real Nutrition. As the
name suggests, the goal of the natural protein bar company is to keep all of its
ingredients real and natural.

Founded by Ross McDowell and Niall Harty in 2020, the Farranfore business
started out after McDowell discovered biltong, a dried beef snack, while living
in South Africa. Upon moving back to Ireland, he used Irish beef to bring a
high-protein snack to Ireland.

Having secured partnerships with BWG, Tesco and Musgrave in Ireland, the
business has since expanded to selling its products in the UK and US.

The focus on keeping things natural goes beyond the ingredients in the bars. The
wrappers used for the products are compostable, to aid with sustainability.

Gina Oglesby, founder of Back to Work Connect

Back to Work Connect 

Back to Work Connect was founded by Gina Oglesby in 2022 and is based in Dublin
city. The company is an education and employment career hub which helps build a
robust talent pipeline by reconnecting midlife workers to education and
employment for upskilling.

The target workers are those returning to work, such as after a break for
childcare, and those seeking to change career.

Oglesby developed the idea for the business while studying innovation,
entrepreneurship and enterprise at UCD.

The focus is very much on career development, which differentiates it from
traditional recruitment services.

When candidates search for a role on Back to Work Connect’s platform, training
courses associated with the role are also presented to the user. The benefit for
companies seeking staff through the platform is access to workers they may have
previously overlooked who are willing to upskill to meet a role’s requirements.



The target workers are those returning to work, such as after a break for
childcare, and those seeking to change career

Eoin Everard, founder of BackAware Belt

BackAware Belt

The BackAware Belt is a wearable technology designed to improve posture,
exercise technique and alleviate back pain.

The business was founded by Eoin Everard in 2022 and is based in Kilkenny city.
Equipped with sensors, BackAware Belt monitors your back position in real-time
and provides gentle reminders for correction.

The belt connects to a smartphone app, where you can access follow-along videos
that display your back position, giving you confidence that you are doing
everything safely and correctly.

Niamh and Ruairí Dooley, founders of BiaSol

Biasol

BiaSol is an Offaly-based business that is on a mission to eliminate food waste
by using ingredients that are left over from the manufacturing process.

Founded in Tullamore by siblings Niamh and Ruairi Dooley, the business was
started in 2020 and upcycles food ingredients.

The first range of products came from spent grain from breweries, with BiaSol
(also known as Lurgan Foods), working with four independent craft breweries to
source the grain.

The business is working with O’Hara’s brewing in Co Carlow, Brú in Co Meath,
Dead Centre in Athlone, Co Westmeath, and Ballykilcavan in Co Laois to reduce
their waste.

BiaSol’s products include scone and pancake mixes and morning breakfast cereals,
all developed using upcycled grains.

BiaSol has also become an official supplier to the IRFU and the business aims to
work with larger food brands to help upcycle their spent ingredients.

Aidan Finn and  Ciarán McNamee of Binarii Labs

Binarii Labs

The inspiration for companies on the Hot 100 varies wildly but few can claim an
origin quite like Binarii Labs. The business was founded by Aidan Finn, Steven
Garner, Nigel Carter and Ciarán McNamee in 2021 and has developed a product
which is aimed at protecting data by ensuring no single file is ever kept
completely in one place.

The concept came from Garner, who was inspired in part by the Harry Potter
books. Garner was disillusioned with how data was stored from his own experience
in the financial sector. A puzzle in the Harry Potter books, that involved seven
pieces being hidden across the map, got him thinking about doing something along
the same lines with data.

The inspiration has grown Binarii, which is based in NovaUCD in Dublin, into a
business that has raised €3 million to date and now has 20 staff.

Binarii has established offices in Asia and the UK, with plans to double staff
count and add a US office.

Lee Coffey, chief technology officer,  and Tim Roche, chief executive,  of
BioEnz Technologies



Lee Coffey, chief technology officer,  and Tim Roche, chief executive,  of
BioEnz Technologies

BioEnz Technologies 

BioEnz Technologies is a Waterford-based business focused on enzyme discovery
and microbiological solutions. BioEnz is based on over 20 years of research with
a proprietary biobank and discovery platform. It is developing new and improved
enzyme and bespoke biocatalyst solutions for more sustainable and impactful
environmental, nutritional and therapeutic applications.

The business was founded in 2020 by Lee Coffey, Tim Roche and Jens Bleiel and
played a big role in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic, where it worked with
South East Technological University to develop a method of accelerating the
process of tests for the virus.

The business was one of 12 selected by Enterprise Ireland this year for its
Prep4Seed programme, a 12-week course designed to prepare start-ups for seed
investment and pitching to investors.

Charlie Butler and  Rónán Dowling-Cullen of Bounce Insights

Bounce Insights 

Bounce Insights has big plans, with goals to expand tenfold over the coming
years. The business was founded by Josh Stafford, Brandon Dooley, Rónán
Dowling-Cullen, Brian O’Mahony and Charlie Butler in 2019.

The business has developed a market research platform powered by artificial
intelligence.

Bounce has developed its own generative AI technology that is designed to speed
up the research process.

The Bounce Insights platform is designed to save marketing and research teams
hours, days, or even weeks when performing research.

The business aims to be a blend between self-service market research tools and
the traditional agency approach, a sort of best-of-both-worlds approach to
market insights, driven by its technology stack, which is built upon OpenAI’s
ChatGPT 4.

The company’s clients include Tesco, Kraft, Glanbia and Mondelez.

Paul Savage, chief operating officer, Brightbeam. Picture: Maura Hickey



Paul Savage, chief operating officer, Brightbeam. Picture: Maura Hickey

Brightbeam 

Brightbeam is growing fast, on course to double the number of staff it had at
the start of 2024 to 28 by the end of this year.

The Irish AI business, which operates on a fully remote basis, was founded by
Paul Savage, Brian Hanly and Phil Black in 2023 and has raised €450,000 in
funding to date.

The company helps businesses make better use of AI, finding ways to adapt it for
use in their processes. Savage was previously with Nearform, where he was chief
operating officer, and all of the co-founders have known each other for decades.

Brightbeam expects to close its first US deal by the end of this year and to
grow further in that market into 2025.

Brian Kenneally, Bundledocs

Bundledocs 

Bundledocs provides a means of compiling legal bundles or briefs digitally,
replacing a previously paper-based approach.

The business, based in Ballincollig, Co Cork, was founded by Brian Kenneally,
Lisa Walsh and James Hogan in 2019. It currently has 18 staff and had a turnover
of €3.5 million last year.

The idea came to Hogan after a customer approached him in a prior role about
finding a solution of this nature. Hogan couldn’t find one so teamed up with
Kenneally and Walsh to develop one instead.

The business has set up an office in Canada to service the North American market
and aid its growth. It has already enjoyed strong growth in the Irish, UK and
Australian markets.

The expansion in the US should result in the company doubling its turnover in
the next two years, according to estimates by Bundledocs.

The business has set up an office in Canada to service the North American market
and aid its growth

Criona Turley of Capella Workplace Solutions

Capella Workplace Solutions 

Capella Workplace Solutions is an Irish-owned hybrid working solutions provider.
The company, which was founded in 2020 by Criona Turley and Victoria Yanakos,
was established to help businesses navigate the almost overnight transition to
remote and hybrid working during the pandemic.

Capella’s software facilitates hot desk booking, office heat mapping,
work-from-home risk assessments, as well as analytical tools to optimise
collaboration in the workplace.

The business also offers data and insights into how hybrid working is performing
across a business, which can be used to inform company policy. The ESRI, the
Department of Social Protection and Barnardo’s are among the Irish organisations
using Capella’s technology.

The company is in the process of completing the roll-out of 30 roles, announced
last year, which will more than double its workforce as it aims to generate over
€10 million in annual revenue by 2027.

David Duffy, co-founder and chairman of The Corporate Governance Institute

Corporate Governance Institute 

The Corporate Governance Institute is a Dublin-based training business that was
founded by David W Duffy and Anthony Quigley in 2020. It currently has 30 staff
and has raised €2.5 million in funding.

The business attracted 18 people to do its first course in September 2020 across
the UK and Ireland. By the end of that year, another 60 people went through its
courses. It now expects to double its annual revenues to €8 million by the end
of this year.

The institute provides two diploma courses, one in corporate governance and one
in environmental, social and governance (ESG). Both are accredited by Glasgow
Caledonian University.

The Corporate Governance Institute has customers in over 50 countries but the
bulk of the business remains in the UK and Ireland. The goal for the business is
to continue its global reach and add 10 more jobs by the end of 2025, bringing
total staff to 40.

Richard Egan, founder of Cushla

Cushla

Cushla is a healthech based in the Guinness Enterprise Centre in Dublin. The
business provides a means for patients to access their complete medical data,
including from health service providers or fitness devices, in one place.

Cushla was founded by Richard Egan, Steve Szpara and Gavin Davey in 2022. The
company has 12 staff and has raised €2.3 million to date. It is aiming to raise
a further €5 million next year.

The business was inspired by the accessibility that banking apps created in the
financial sector. Cushla aims to provide the same level of service in
healthcare.

The business has been primarily focused on product development up to now,
working to prove it could connect all the different information sources
together. The funding round next year will be aimed at helping Cushla develop
its product further and aid expansion into the US.

Marie Toft



Marie Toft

Emotionise 

Emotionise AI is an artificial intelligence business that aims to teach machines
to understand how humans feel and develop communications tools based on that.

The business was founded in 2018 by Marie Toft, Tim Pat Dufficy and Siva Sharma,
the idea for the business grew out of Toft’s prior work experience and
subsequent study in university.

It was during her studies that Toft decided to combine her research with
developing a business and she joined the Going for Growth scheme with Enterprise
Ireland.

Growing out initially from GPT-3, the forerunner to ChatGPT, the access to large
language models provided the business with the ability to further enhance the
capacity of the AI she was developing. It is now part of the high potential
start-up unit (HPSU) in Enterprise Ireland.

Killian Gaffney,  chief executive of EquiTrace



Equitrace 

EquiTrace is a data management start-up that has developed tools to aid the
monitoring of horses. Founded by vets Kevin and Jennifer Corley in 2019,
EquiTrace, which is based at the National Stud in Co Kildare, stores the
information used in a horse’s passport as well as information on any
medications.

The key selling point of the technology is that it improves efficiencies for
people working with horses. The company’s    platform is designed to give users
solutions that reduce the amount of time they have to spend monitoring the
health of horses.

The US is the main market for EquiTrace, where aid in time management is of
particular concern, with new regulations requiring those working in the sector
to provide more medical data to authorities.

The key selling point of the technology is that it improves efficiencies for
people working with horses

Deirdre Lyons, founder of Examfly

Examfly 

Examfly, a Dublin-based start-up, was founded by Deirdre Lyons, originally from
Ballingarry, Co. Limerick, in 2019. The business provides online training for
professional services exams, such as accounting and tax. It has five staff and
has raised €2 million in funding.

The interactive learning model developed by Examfly is designed to help people
achieve qualifications quicker. Lyons developed the idea based on her own
experiences studying in college and working in PwC and Davy.

The business has already secured work with some of the largest professional
services firms in Ireland and the UK and aims to double its staff over the next
two years. The goal for Lyons is to expand the business into the UK and US,
while also growing in Ireland, where she believes she can repeat the success
Examfly has already enjoyed.

Eoghan Fineran, founder of FarmEye

Farmeye 

FarmEye is a Roscommon-based agri-tech company founded by Eoghan Finneran, Joe
Desbonnet and Brendan Allen in 2017. The business plans to show that farming can
have a positive impact on the environment with its Earth observation technology.

The company’s technology uses satellites and a ground-based lidar (light
detection and ranging) system to analyse and report biodiversity and carbon
sequestration data.

The map-based soil management system can be accessed by laptop, desktop or
smartphone app to maintain a record of the nutritional profile of every field on
a farm.

According to FarmEye, it mapped 1.7 million hectares of fields in Ireland, the
UK and Australia and recorded revenue of €1.6 million last year.

David Deneher of Field of Vision



David Deneher of Field of Vision

Field of Vision 

Field of Vision is a Dublin-based start-up that is helping the visually impaired
have a better experience at live sporting events.

The business was founded by David Deneher, Tim Farrelly and Omar Salem in 2020
and has raised €250,000 to date.

Field of Vision is based at Dogpatch Labs and has created a haptic response
tablet for use at different sports events. The device is held by the user and it
buzzes to provide ideas of where the ball is and what is happening.

Having successfully completed trials with Manchester City in the English Premier
League and Toyota Racing in Japan, the business secured its biggest deal to date
in 2022 through a partnership with Telstra in Australia. The telco wanted to
showcase its 5G technology and Field of Vision adapted its technology for use in
Aussie Rules at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.

The next step for the business is a focus on the US, particularly targeted on
the state of Georgia which is a hub for sports tech and home to several major
sports teams.

Ingrid De Doncker, Debbie Power and Donal Daly of Future Planet. Picture:
Michael O’Sullivan

Future Planet 

Future Planet was founded by Donal Daly and Ingrid De Doncker in 2021 and is an
AI-powered software platform that helps businesses understand and reduce their
climate emissions, while achieving their environmental, social and governance
(ESG) goals.

The company has 15 staff and some significant goals, aiming for turnover of €30
million by 2029 with 500 per cent growth forecast for this year.

Future Planet’s cloud-based software intakes many data points when compiling its
ESG reports. The business claims its technology produces reports in minutes
which would have taken weeks to do manually.

The surge in companies in Europe that need to provide ESG reports is key to
Future Planet’s bullishness.

The EU’s Corporate Social Reporting Directive (CSRD) means that more than 50,000
such businesses will need to provide such reports from January, compared to just
11,000 now.

That’s a market Future Planet is confident it can grow with and assist.

John Ryan of Gigable

Gigable 

Gigable is a Dublin-based business that links freelancers or ‘gig workers’ with
businesses seeking temporary staff. This includes businesses with workers such
as food delivery drivers, waiting staff, security guards, warehouse operatives,
kitchen porters and event stewards.

The company was founded by John Ryan in 2019. Gigable’s platform allow gig
workers to accept jobs, send invoices, communicate and receive payments.

Workers on the platform also get a workplace benefits package, including digital
GP services, mental healthcare, accident and injury cover. Businesses,
meanwhile, can schedule and manage gigs through the platform as well as manage
the workers, including assigning work and sending payments.

Investors in the business include John Herlihy, the former boss of Google
Ireland, Voxpro founders Dan and Linda Kiely, and Patrick Joy, founder of
Suretank and former EY entrepreneur of the year.

Avril Power and Colm Murphy of Giyst

Giyst 

As the name suggests, Giyst is about giving users the gist of things. The
company’s platform provides easy-to-digest summaries and highlights of meetings
and conferences which help event organisers and attendees to retain value after
the event has ended.

Giyst’s technology can take content from a keynote speaker or panel session and
use its algorithm to extract the key points. It will then create a coherent
story of either 10 per cent or 20 per cent of the original length.

The Cork company was founded by Avril Power and Colm Murphy in 2020. The idea
for the business was born from Power’s own frustrations from attending
conferences, as well as the explosion in video content

The key market for Giyst is the US, where the plethora of events and conferences
provides a fertile field for the company to make contacts and develop
partnerships.

Gráinne Mullins of Grá Chocolates



Gráinne Mullins

Gra Chocolates 

Sometimes a name is just waiting for a business. Gráinne Mullins may not believe
in nominative determinism but Grá Chocolates was the perfect fit when titling
the Galway-based business.

The luxury chocolate business has expanded into the US after receiving approval
from authorities there last year.

Mullins has ten years of experience working as a pastry chef in Michelin-star
restaurants and Grá was a project she developed when restaurants closed during
the Covid pandemic and she needed to find another way to do business.

She started the company in 2020, having got the idea from hand-painting Easter
eggs for friends and family. Followers on social media asked where they could
buy the chocolates and the business has taken off from there.

Grá Chocolates has been featured on the Late Late Show and an episode of Beyond
the Menu with Mark Moriarty. Mullins aims to keep developing in Galway,
eventually creating a visitor centre to go alongside the factory.

Stephen Smith of Green Treats

Green Treats 

Green Treats is a Co Wicklow-based dog food company that is all about
sustainability. Headquartered in Arklow, the business was founded by Stephen and
Darren Smith in 2019.

The company develops affordable products for smaller brands from scratch and
advises companies through solutions in recipe development and a new product
development book on packaging.

Green Treats has enjoyed remarkable growth over its short life, working with
Denzel dog food company in Britain and securing a manufacturing contract for
Aldi to develop a dog dental brush treat for the company.

Through Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-Ups fund, the company was able
to raise €1.8 million in early 2023, which allowed Green Treats to purchase
better equipment and a brand new production facility.

Green Treats has enjoyed remarkable growth over its short life

John Killian of Greyscout

Greyscout

GreyScout is a cloud software business-to-business company that works with
brands such as NETGEAR and Dorel to monitor online channels for intellectual
property (IP) infringements.

Those infringements can cover anything from counterfeit products to fake
accounts on social media sites.

GreyScout, launched in 2020, was set up by John Killian and Chris McCauley and
has offices in both Dogpatch Labs in Dublin and TUS Midlands.

Last year proved a big one for GreyScout as it completed its seed funding round,
raising €3.5 million, in a round jointly led by Act Venture Capital and Tribal,
with Furthr VC, Enterprise Ireland and HBAN also participating.

This came on top of a pre-seed round of €1 million raised in 2022, which brings
the total funds raised to date by the business to €4.5 million.

With the grey market (the unofficial market for counterfeit goods) valued at
around €825 billion annually by the OECD, the opportunity for GreyScout is
significant.

Peigin Crowley of Ground Wellbeing

Ground Wellbeing 

Ground Wellbeing was founded by Peigín Crowley in 2020 that develops wellness
treatments and products.

The company was founded with the aim of helping to relieve people from anxiety,
menopause, burnout, gut issues, as well as provide treatments for people going
through cancer and chemotherapy.

Crowley worked as a consultant for 10 years, designing spas and products as well
as training teams for various hotels. When lockdown happened, she turned her
passion for helping people into a business.

The company’s range of balms and oils have been sold to hotel spas such as the K
Club, the Shelbourne, Mount Juliet Estate, and the Europe Hotel & Resort as well
as treatments such as hot and cold stones and holistic massage. Ground
Wellbing’s products are also stocked in Brown Thomas.

The business is focused on growth in new markets now, with Japan in particular
on its radar due to work done by Ground Wellbeing as part of the HPSU in
Enterprise Ireland.

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