IRELAND: Irish fintech increased almost 300% in 2024

2024 was a positive year for the Irish fintech market, with funding reaching $237.95 million across 25 deals; this was a significant increase (291%) compared to last year were $60.83 million was raised across 11 deals, according to the Pulse of FinTech H2’24—a bi-annual report published by KPMG highlighting global fintech investment trends.

The data includes the $109 million buyout of Dublin-based software company SoftCo by Keensight Capital, making it the largest fintech deal in Ireland in 2024. Other notable deals for the period were ones by mobile payment platform CleverCards and CreditLogic, a Dublin-based fintech both raising just over $8.6 million and $3.7 million respectively.

But fintech levels in Ireland was an outlier. Global investment dropped from $119.8 billion across 5,382 deals in 2023 to a seven-year low of $95.6 billion across 4,639 deals in 2024. A perfect storm of factors combined to soften investor appetite, including macroeconomic challenges, geopolitical conflicts and tensions, a year of elections in major jurisdictions, and concerns about valuations and the lack of exits.

Key highlights

• Irish fintechs attracted $237.95 million in deals in 2024, up a substantial 291% compared with over $60.83 million in 2023.
• The largest fintech deal in Ireland in 2024 was the $109 million buyout of Dublin-based software company SoftCo by Keensight Capital.  
• The sector secured $97.15 million in deals in H2’24 in Ireland, a significant increase from $1.61 million in H2’23.
• Meanwhile Global fintech investment falls to seven-year low of $95.6 billion in 2024.

Lowest fintech investment in EMEA region since 2016

Fintech investment in the EMEA region fell from $27.6 billion across 1,833 deals in 2023 to just $20.3 billion across 1,465 deals in 2024. H2’24 also saw a significant drop compared to H1’24—from $13 billion across 820 deals to just $7.3 billion across 645 deals. 

Early-stage deals are thriving, driven by interest in AI and innovative business models.

Irish fintech ecosystem shows resilience

Commenting on fintech activity in Ireland during 2024, Ian Nelson, Head of Financial Services & Regulatory at KPMG in Ireland, said: “The Irish fintech sector’s remarkable growth in 2024, with a staggering 291% increase in investment to $237.95 million, underscores its resilience and potential. Despite global investment falling to a seven-year low, Ireland’s innovative spirit and robust ecosystem have set it apart as a beacon of progress in a challenging economic landscape.”

Nelson adds, “Early-stage deals are thriving, driven by interest in AI and innovative business models. This growth is even more impressive given the macroeconomic challenges, geopolitical conflicts, and election uncertainties that have dampened investor appetite globally, and a testament to the strength and adaptability of our fintech ecosystem.”

Focussing on H2’24, Ireland’s fintech sector recorded $97.15 million in M&A, venture capital and private equity transactions across five deals. This reflects a significant increase from the $1.61 million for the same period last year. 

Global highlights 2024

• Global fintech investment fell from $119.8 billion across 5,382 deals in 2023 to $95.6 billion across 4,639 deals in 2024.
• The Americas attracted $63.8 billion in fintech investment across 2,267 deals in 2024, of which the US accounted for $50.7 billion across 1,836 deals; the EMEA region attracted $20.3 billion across 1,4645 deals, while the ASPAC region attracted $11.2 billion across 896 deals.
• Global M&A deal value fell from $60.2 billion to $49.6 billion between 2023 and 2024; while H2’24 was softer than H1’24, M&A deal value rose from $7.4 billion to $14.2 billion between Q3’24 and Q4’24.
• PE investment declined significantly, falling from $10.5 billion in 2023 to just $2.6 billion in 2024, while VC investment saw a modest drop from $49.2 billion in 2023 to $43.4 billion in 2024. 
• Payments was the strongest area of fintech investment globally in 2024, with $31 billion in investment compared to just $17.2 billion in 2023; other sectors that saw investment rise year-over-year included digital assets and currencies —from $8.7 billion to $9.1 billion, regtech—from $4.4 billion to $7.4 billion, proptech—from $1.9 billion to $3 billion, and wealthtech—from $190 million to $400 million.
• Corporate VC-participating investment globally fell from $26 .9 billion in 2023 to $19.6 billion in 2024; only the EMEA region saw corporate investment in VC deals rise—from $5.1 billion to $5.8 billion year-over-year. The Americas saw CVC drop from $13.8 billion to $9.9 billion, while ASPAC saw CVC investment drop from $8.0 billion to $3.9 billion.

EMEA trends to watch for in H1’25

• Continued investment in regtech given the ongoing evolution of regulations and the complexities associated with compliance.
• Growing interest in the development of AI agents able to act independently, particularly in areas like AML and financial crime detection.
• Increasing regulatory burden acting as a potential driver for consolidation.
• Continued focus on secondary transactions given subdued IPO environment
• Further development of the digital euro and its ecosystem changing the game for investment, use case development, and the enhancement of an ISV ecosystem.