Connected Newsletter
Connected at the Business Post is your source for the news that matters in technology and innovation, all told from an Irish perspective
There is no sign of things quietening down in the run-up to Christmas with a flurry of big announcements from the Irish tech scene in recent days.
Not least of which is news that Leo Clancy is stepping down as chief executive of Enterprise Ireland early next year. While EI may have its critics, Clancy has been widely praised for his attempts to modernise the state agency, and will be sorely missed.
Here is my take on his achievements, and a look at some of his potential successors.
We’ve been wondering for some time what former Wayflyer co-founder Jack Pierse has been up to since he departed the company last July. Never a man to rest for too long, he’s back with not just one, but two new ventures.
Last week, we exclusively revealed all on Bold Golf, a new sports brand he’s involved in. And now, here is the skinny on HappyStack. Co-founded with a number of other Wayflyer alumni, the start-up is promising to help make the ‘one-person unicorn’ a reality.
We also had a great chinwag with Mike McGearty, former CarTrawler chief executive, for an update on Meili, a start-up he co-founded with Bobby ‘did someone say drones?’ Healy. The travel tech company is firing on all cylinders, having secured nearly 40 partnerships with some well-known brands. Meili has just raised an additional €8.1 million from backers as it looks to double down on opportunities.
It was a big week for funding announcements. In addition to Meili’s raise, JustTip and LaNua Medical also secured new financing. Meanwhile, Cosimo, a Dublin and Boston-headquartered digital assets-focused investment firm, told us it is in advanced talks to raise $25 million.
Revolut continues on its path to world domination, revealing on Thursday that it now has 3 million Irish customers. It also announced the appointment of Malcolm Craig as its new general manager for Ireland.
Imagine, the rural broadband provider, which was founded by the late Sean Bolger, has been sold as the holding company behind National Broadband Ireland reported a huge surge in revenues.
The data centre debate trundles on. Former Eirgrid chief executive Mark Foley wrote exclusively for the Business Post in an OpEd in recent days. We also reported on a new paper from Prof Hannah Daly of UCC, which asserts that the growth of data centres is incompatible with Ireland’s climate commitments.
Weekly Newsletter
If you would like to receive the Connected newsletter automatically in your inbox every week, please sign up here
Generative AI could contribute up to €148 billion to Ireland’s annual GDP by 2038, representing a 22 per cent increase over the baseline forecast, according to a new report from Accenture.
Staying with Gen AI, and Google is rolling out an updated version of Gemini, its generative AI chatbot that is a rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The news comes as its parent Alphabet also announced a number of additions to its range of artificial intelligence-based tools. These include Deep Research, an AI agent that can carry out certain tasks on behalf of a user.
Elsewhere, OpenAI released Sora, its AI video generator, out into the wild. However, it isn’t being made available in Europe right now as the company follows other tech firms in restricting use of some products and features due to the EU imposing tougher restrictions than other regions.
In our weekly update, we are giving you the lowdown on the best tech jobs currently available locally. If you want to be included, then email [email protected]
In other news:
• Amazon announces new country manager
• Brendan Mooney returns as CEO of Kainos
• TikTok Shop goes live for Ireland
• S&P lowers Intel’s credit rating
Send on your news and views to [email protected]
All the best,
Charlie
“Quantum processors are peeling away at a double exponential rate and will continue to vastly outperform classical computers as we scale up,” Hartmut Neven, founder and lead, Google Quantum AI, which has just unveiled a ‘mindboggling’ quantum computing chip
The top podcasts that we can’t live without
Ireland’s e-commerce evolution: from €7tn to €11.4tn worldwide potential
Tim Cook wants Apple to literally save your life (Wired)
The tech elite are transforming their homes into military bunkers (Washington Post)