The IVCA said regrowth of international investment shows that investor confidence is recovering after US tariff shocks earlier this year.
VC funding into Irish tech SMEs during the third quarter of this year grew 8pc compared to the same period last year, signalling a potential return to stability for the market after Q2’s record low.
The total VC investment for the latest quarter came to €207.9m according to the Irish Venture Capital Association’s (IVCA) latest Venture Pulse report, a marked increase from last quarter’s €112.6m – the lowest figure recorded by the IVCA since 2015.
“Third quarter data provided some relief following a dismal second quarter this year when funding fell to €112.6m, its lowest in 10 years,” said IVCA chair Caroline Gaynor. “Hopefully we are starting to see some confidence and stability return to the market, but it remains a challenging time for early-stage companies.”
High-value deals flourished in Q3 according to the report – published in association with William Fry – with deals above €30m reaching a total value of €96m – a significant increase from last year, which reported no investment deals above €30m.
These high-value investments consisted of medtech ProVerum’s €62m Series B round in August, followed by AI start-up Nory’s €34m round in September.
Other funding ranges that saw growth compared to last year include the €1-€3m category, which rose by 35pc to €35.6m, and the €3-€5m range, which increased by 18pc to €34.7m.
The IVCA reported that deals valued in the €1m-€5m range accounted for 30 out of the 39 transactions in this quarter, totalling more than €70m.
Total investment for the first nine months of 2025 fell by 10pc to €853.4m, compared to €945.3m for the same period last year.
According to the IVCA, life sciences has been the most successful sector to date in 2025, raising funds of €361.6m, which accounts for 42pc of the total investment in the first nine months of this year.
The top sectors after life sciences are cybersecurity at €136.3m (16pc of the total); AI and machine learning at €97m (11pc); fintech at €92.2m (11pc); and software coming in at €66.2m (8pc).
Tariff thaw and early stage troubles
The IVCA reported that third quarter results showed that international VC investment into Irish SMEs had climbed back to €146.7m from €69.5m in Q2, which Gaynor said is a sign of recovering investor confidence after the blow caused by the US’ tariff announcements in April.
At the time of last quarter’s report, both Gaynor and IVCA director general Sarah-Jane Larkin warned about Ireland’s dependence on international markets to support indigenous companies – a concern that has been frequently voiced by the IVCA in past Venture Pulse surveys.
Despite strong growth in certain areas in Q3, there were still signs of struggle in some funding categories.
Funding in the €10m-€30m category fell by two-thirds to €26m compared to last year, while deals in the €5-€10m range dropped by 74pc to €13.5m.
Transactions below €1m and seed funding also suffered in the third quarter, dropping by 79pc and 30pc respectively.
For the launch of today’s report, Larkin commented that despite the shortfalls in early-stage funding this quarter, there is reason to remain optimistic, as the process for deploying the Irish Government’s €250m Enterprise Ireland Seed and Venture Capital Scheme is “well under way”.
“We are optimistic that the environment for very early-stage Irish companies seeking first round funding will pick up in the first half of next year.”
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