Eighty per cent of tech start-up founders and chief executives in Ireland believe attracting capital investment is now either “difficult” or “very difficult”, according to newly published research.
The survey, by Scale Ireland, also found 87.7 per cent of founders were deploying, or are preparing to deploy, artificial intelligence while 87.3 per cent thought it would have a “positive consequence” for their business.
However, the survey found while 59.1 per cent of respondents were aware of the EU AI act, which came into effect in August 2024, nearly 44 per cent said they “don’t know what impact it will have on their business.”
Scale Ireland chief executive, Martina Fitzgerald, said it was a concern many start-up companies were unclear about the impact of the new regulations.
She also said the findings of the survey “reinforce the need to bolster our indigenous sector.”
“Funding is without doubt the number one issue for start-ups.
“It is vital that we mobilise private capital to ensure Irish companies can scale globally and remain here in Ireland,” she said.
“We do not want to see some of our best tech companies leaving Ireland.”
Chair of Scale Ireland, Brian Caulfield, told the Business Post, that on a European basis the amount of venture capital available across the whole of the EU is a fifth of what’s available in the US on a per capita basis.
“The fundamental problem is we haven’t mobilised European capital to invest in European innovation,” he said.
“For example we have €170 billion of deposits in Irish banks earning almost no interest - €1 billion a year out of that would have a transformative impact on the funding landscape in Ireland.”
Scale Ireland is the biggest representative organisation for the Irish tech sector.
Some 235 founders and chief executives of tech start-ups and scaling companies contributed to the start-up survey.