Irish Female Founders Secure €131M in Funding, Despite Market Bifurcation

Irish female-founded startups raised a record €131 million in funding in 2025, according to the latest TechIreland Female Founder Funding Review. However, this represents a decrease of €14 million compared to the €145 million raised in 2024 [TechCentral.ie]. The report highlights a growing disparity in funding rounds, with a concentration of large investments and a surge in smaller deals.

Funding Trends and Deal Sizes

While the total number of companies securing funding increased to 82 in 2025 – almost double the previous year and the highest level since 2017 – the average and median deal sizes have significantly declined. The average raise fell to €2.3 million in 2025, down from €3.9 million in 2024. More notably, the median funding round dropped to just €100,000 in 2025, compared to €1.5 million in 2024.

A Bifurcated Market

According to Brian Caulfield, Chair of TechIreland, the funding landscape is becoming increasingly polarized. “While it’s encouraging to see so many female founded companies raising capital, it’s a concern that the market has bifurcated, a very minor number of companies raising large rounds, and a very large number of companies raising very small rounds (largely led by Enterprise Ireland).” [TechCentral.ie] He notes that the “mid-market of seed and Series A raises is being hollowed out.”

Enterprise Ireland’s Role

Sarah Walker, Startups & Entrepreneurship at Enterprise Ireland, acknowledged the challenging funding environment but emphasized the positive trend in the number of companies raising capital. “The headline figure showing 82 companies raising in 2025 is almost double the previous and the highest level of activity since 2017 which is cause for celebration.” [TechCentral.ie]

Broader Irish Startup Funding Context

Irish startups secured €978 million in funding in 2024, a 15% increase from 2023 levels [TechCentral.ie]. However, the number of companies raising capital decreased by 23% from 2023, with 307 companies raising funds compared to 403 in the previous year. The Irish tech ecosystem raised €1.9 billion in 2023, placing the country among the top 10 in Europe [Tech.eu].