Key FinTech investment stats in Ireland, H1 2023:
• Irish FinTech companies raised a combined $61m in H1 2023, an 81% drop YoY
• Irish FinTech deal activity reached 17 transactions in the first half of the year, a 1% increase from H1 2022
• PayTech was the most active FinTech subsector in H1 2023 with four deals
Irish FinTech continues to see a drop in deal activity for the fifth year running. Based on the first half of 2023, Irish FinTech deal activity is expected to reach 34 deals, a 6% drop from 2022. In the first half of 2023, Irish FinTech companies experienced a significant 81% decrease YoY in funds raised, with a total of $61m secured. Irish FinTech deal activity saw a modest 1% uptick in the first six months of the year compared to H1 2022, reaching a total of 17 deals.
NomuPay, a unified payment platform, had the largest Irish FinTech deal in the first half of the year after raising $53.6m in their latest Series A funding round, led by Finch Capital and Outpost Ventures. NomuPay’s growth journey is experiencing a remarkable boost due to this substantial investment. The company has made significant strides, successfully onboarding new clients since Q4 2022, and is actively expanding its presence in key markets. Moreover, NomuPay continuously extends its uP Platform to include new markets while allocating resources to product development, aiming to further enhance its offerings. Peter Burridge, former head of operations payouts at PayPal and CEO of NomuPay, says “Every growing international enterprise knows the problem of ‘multiples’, when it comes to payments. There are multiple countries, multiple payment types, different payment use cases in each nation, a variety of channels, and an endless list of changing regulations. As a result, expansion slows down. Companies have to maintain countless technical integrations and vendor relationships, while reconciling global payments. “In the face of continued technological, market, method and data fragmentation, we provide companies with an ‘all access pass’ to global payments’, enabling enterprises to continue to expand globally, and to future-proof payment strategies.”
PayTech was the most active FinTech subsector in H1 2023 with four deals, a 24% share of all transactions. Online payments continue to grow in popularity in Ireland. Total transaction value is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 12.8% resulting in $29.06bn by 2027. Total transaction value in the Digital Payments market is projected to reach US$17.95bn in 2023.
The Central Bank of Ireland considers safeguarding users’ funds as a top priority. In 2022, its supervisory engagement revealed that one in four payment and e-money firms had deficiencies in their safeguarding risk management frameworks. To address this, on 20 January 2023, the Central Bank engaged with individual firms to ensure remedial actions were taken and issued a “Dear CEO” letter, stating a zero-tolerance policy for weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements. Consequently, all payment and e-money firms required to safeguard users’ funds are now obligated to obtain an audit opinion confirming compliance with relevant regulations. This audit opinion must be submitted to the Central Bank by 31 July 2023.
The data for this research was taken from the FinTech Global database. More in-depth data and analytics on investments and companies across all FinTech sectors and regions around the world are available to subscribers of FinTech Global. ©2023 FinTech Global
