Irish Minister announces launch of 10 fintech startups

Irish Minister of State for Financial Services Eoghan Murphy has unveiled that 10 new fintech startups are ready to be launched after receiving Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive Start Fund on completion of three-month development and mentoring program.

The Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive Start Fund is a part of the IFS2020 strategy and the ten successful startups were each awarded €50,000 in equity support earlier this year. These companies received membership to Dogpatch Labs, in partnership with Ulster Bank and access to the Ulster Bank Innovation Solutions team.

“I congratulate the companies here today on completing the development program.  Strengthening our indigenous fintech sector as a source of high-value job creation is a key objective of the Government’s IFS 2020 Strategy.  This program’s mentoring and sponsorship model demonstrates how we can effectively harness industry scale and expertise while nurturing mutually beneficial links with our innovative start-up community.  I welcome Enterprise Ireland’s initiative to support the development of a world-class start-up ecosystem, and wish these companies every success for the future,” the minister stated at the event in chq building, IFSC, Dublin.

The 10 selected companies include AssureHedge, id-Pal, WeSavvy, CyberRiskAware, Tucr, Inship, MartelloLowCarbonSolutions, among others. These companies range from insurance to banking to wearables, the release said.

The three-month program saw applications from early stage companies providing technology driven solutions within the financial services sector. The 10 selected fintech companies also took part in a series of masterclasses provided by industry experts from the Fintech and Payments Association of Ireland (FPAI). As a part of the three-month program, these masterclasses were led by Ulster Bank and Citi on topics that include compliance, sales, partnering, and fundraising, among others.

“Ulster Bank is proud to support this initiative and the ten companies who have gone through the program. Engaging with the fintech community in a collaborative way, is the key for Ulster Bank, as we strive to become the number one bank for customer service, trust, and advocacy. I look forward to continuing to engage with these companies in the future,” Ciaran Coyle, Chief Administrative Officer at Ulster Bank said.