The agency has also announced a successor to the National Digital Research Centre, which comes to a close this year.

Ireland’s state agency for home-grown business development spent nearly €33m last year to support 198 new start-ups in the country. And 99 of the start-ups supported in 2025 say AI plays a central role in their business, mirroring global adoption of the technology.

The investment marks a 19.2pc jump from 2024, when Enterprise Ireland (EI) supported 157 home-grown start-ups with €27.6m.

The latest figures were announced today (6 May) at the annual EI Start-up Day in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, which recognised both the outgoing and incoming cohort of start-ups from the programme.

Speaking to the press, EI’s executive director Kevin Sherry noted that the ‘Class of 2025’ had strong medtech, fintech and AI representation.

“AI [is] being leveraged across a whole range of businesses,” said Sherry. “And you see entrepreneurs looking at the disruption that AI presents and seeing that as an enormous opportunity”.

The 2025 cohort consisted of 90 ‘High Potential Start-Ups’ and 108 businesses supported through early-stage funding. A total of €32.9m was invested last year, with €23m in equity investment and €9.55m in pre-seed funding.

And complementing these were EI’s seed and venture capital schemes, which invested €80m into 76 home-grown companies last year, the agency said.

Gendered breakdown shows that more than 50pc of the early-stage start-ups were female-led; meanwhile, 28 supported start-ups emerged from the research ecosystem, and €22m was awarded to third-level researchers via the Commercialisation Fund.

“There’s never been a better time to start a business in Ireland,” Sherry added. “Don’t be afraid to take that step … there’s plenty of support available there from Enterprise Ireland and other support in the ecosystem.”

EI CEO Jenny Melia added: “Start-ups are critical for our future – economically, reputationally and societally.”

New NDRC successor announced

The National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) is getting a successor in the form of a new National Accelerator Programme, with a budget of €21m over the next three years. The programme will seek applicants shortly, Enterprise Ireland has said.

“We’ve listened closely to founders who have told us they need early access to capital, experienced mentors, specialist expertise and international markets and investors,” said Conor O’Donovan, head of start-ups at Enterprise Ireland.

“The new Start-up Ireland National Accelerator tender will deliver best-in-class accelerator and training supports, with a strong focus on native AI, emerging technologies and specialist sectors, broader regional coverage, and fast-tracked access to funding and international markets.”

The Irish Government opted to extend the NDRC programme until the end of 2026 after deciding to close it in 2025.

The new accelerator forms a key priority under the Government’s Action Plan for Competitiveness and Productivity, and makes up a central pillar in EI’s new Start-up Ireland initiative, which is expected to formally launch in the coming weeks.

The new programme will work closely with operators to deliver a redesigned accelerator model which focuses on specialist sectors, more extensive regional coverage, enhanced international connectivity, reduced fragmentation and improved access to founder-led mentorship, EI said.

The programme is “designed to strengthen and streamline Ireland’s start-up support ecosystem and unlock the next generation of high-growth, globally scalable start-ups”, said Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke, TD.

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