Over $800m has been raised in the top 10 transactions in Ireland since 2014, accounting for 81.0% of total capital raised in the region during the period. Of the top 10 deals, four came from Marketplace Lending companies and three came from Payments & Remittances companies. The other deals consisted of Funding Platforms (Linked Finance), and RegTech companies (Immedis and Fenergo).
Only one deal from Q3 2019 made it into the top 10 deals, however it took the top spot. It was a $280.6m private equity round raised by Castlehaven Finance, an alternative lender who funds property developments. The round was led by Avenue Capital Group whose partnership with the company will allow for scaling-up, providing opportunities to work with new developers and extend new services to existing clients.
The largest Payments & Remittances deal of the period came from SmartBox, a provider of experience gift vouchers across eleven countries in Europe. They raised $197.2m in a debt-financing round in Q4 2017 led by Allied Irish Banks. The company used the funding for general expansion, creating 100 new jobs with a focus on customer experience, marketing, sales, finance and R&D.
