Protex AI, Altra, Barespace, Tines, Nory and CleverCards also made it to this year’s list.
Despite the usual London dominance in Sifted’s annual list of the 100 fastest-growing Irish and UK start-ups, Dublin’s Kota has managed to place in the top 10 this year.
The Irish insurance and employee benefits platform has made it to the ninth spot on the 2026 list, with a two-year revenue compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 640pc. The four-year-old start-up last raised $14.5m in May 2025, taking its total raise to date to nearly $23m.
“This ranking is a reflection of the work we’ve done over the last three years building out our infrastructure and network of insurance and pension providers, and the value that lets us deliver to customers,” Kota said in a post on LinkedIn celebrating the ranking.
The company’s employee health insurance and benefits platform aims to empower start-ups and scaling organisations to automate and manage team benefits.
Others in this year’s list include the Dublin-based and Limerick-founded workplace safety start-up Protex AI, which secured $36m early last year to expand across the US. The 2021-founded company ranked 21 on the Sifted list with a CAGR of 313pc.
Protex’s AI-powered platform plugs into CCTV devices and uses computer vision to capture unsafe events autonomously. The start-up already has around 80 employees.
Meanwhile, care-tech start-up Altra placed number 41 with a CAGR of just above 200pc. Founded in 2019, the start-up has reached profitability. “This recognition reflects a real shift in the care sector,” the company said.
Food sector-focused AI start-up Nory has dropped seven spots since last year, reaching the 44th rank in this year’s list. The dual-headquartered start-up in Dublin and London raised $37m last September to drive expansion in the US. Nory has a two-year revenue CAGR of around 182pc.
While insurtech CleverCards dropped 27 spots to the 54th rank on the 2026 list. Founded it 2019, CleverCards’s payments technology allows businesses and public sector organisations to create prepaid digital Mastercards and send them to anyone. The service was launched to market in 2023.
Dublin’s Barespace, which bills itself as the “operating system” for the hair and beauty industry, has made it to the 56th spot – the highest ranking seed start-up on the list.
Founded in 2022, the company has around 32 employees. Last September, it announced a €2.9m round to accelerate its UK and European expansion.
Irish automation unicorn Tines has climbed 12 positions on the list since last year, reaching the 70th spot with a CAGR of 136pc. The company, which has around 400 workers, recently announced 100 new jobs in Boston as demand for its AI tools rise in the US.
Founded in 2018, Tines reached unicorn status in February 2025 after a $125m Series C round. The company has raised $272m to date from investors including Goldman Sachs, SoftBank, Felicis, Addition, Accel, Blossom Capital and Lux Capital.
Irish entrants from the 2025 list that did not rank this year include e-SIM provider Holafly, VR simulation training provider VRAI, data company CitySwift, e-commerce financier Wayflyer, and AI copyright protection provider Ceartas.
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