Ireland - Enterprise Ireland
Irish FINTECH success has DEEPTECH roots Ireland’s top fintechs are built on the appliance of cutting-edge science and the world is taking note, says Enterprise Ireland’s Eoin Fitzgerald.
“Deeptech”, which is generating buzz across the business world, describes technologies that result from the commercial application of cutting-edge scientific research. These technologies are creating radically new solutions, with the potential to upend existing products, processes, and even markets. “Right now, deeptech is driving innovation in Ireland’s fintech sector,” says Jack Finucane Clarke, Enterprise Ireland’s London-based market advisor specialising in financial services, software and fintech. “By harnessing technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, Irish fintechs are not just helping to improve business
performance right across the financial services sector but are creating and capturing new commercial opportunities for it.” That matters because, right now, both new and existing financial services players around the globe face increasing challenges and opportunities. “These are emerging not just from the digitisation of banking but from the advent of new payment platforms and ever-changing compliance requirements too, particularly the raft of new regulations that emerged in the aftermath of the financial crisis,” says Finucane Clarke. Ireland’s formula for tech success Ireland’s deeptech capability
is helping financial services institutions to succeed. It’s happening in part because fintech is an area in which Ireland already excels. “Ireland is really good at fintech. Enterprise Ireland, the trade and innovation agency, has a really strong portfolio of top fintech companies in this space and, indeed, is one of the largest investors in fintech startups in the world,” explains Eoin Fitzgerald, Enterprise Ireland’s senior advisor for fintech, based in Dublin. In fact, Enterprise Ireland has invested in over 80 fintech start-ups since 2014. Its portfolio of more than 200 financial services and fintech companies generated over €1bn in revenue in 2017.
