From left: James Toomey and Aidan Corbett. Image: Patrick Bolger
The win is an ‘incredibly proud moment for the team at Wayflyer’, said the company co-founder and CEO Aidan Corbett.
E-commerce financing start-up Wayflyer has bagged the top prize at this year’s Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards.
The Award ranks the country’s 50 fastest growing tech companies based on their revenue growth over a four-year period.
Since being founded in 2019 by Jack Pierse and Aidan Corbett, Wayflyer, which provides revenue-based funding to start-ups, has seen a meteoric growth in its business.
Following a funding raise of $150m in 2022, the company achieved the status of a tech unicorn – reaching a valuation of more than $1bn, while last year, it landed $1bn in capital from US investment management firm Neuberger Berman.
In July last year, the company’s co-founder Pierse announced his departure from the tech unicorn to pursue a new venture.
Following Wayflyer’s top rank at the awards this year is the broadband provider Fibrus, Tines, a no-code automation start-up and the ad-tech platform Buymedia.
Tines, which took the top spot in LinkedIn’s latest ranking of Irish start-ups, also shared ranks with Wayflyer in this year’s France Digitale Leading European Tech Scale-ups map.
2024 was big for the Deloitte Award, which also marked its 25th anniversary this year. Cumulatively, this year’s Fast 50 winners generated a total of €1.4bn in annual revenues, while their minimum growth rate to rank was the highest it has ever been in the Award’s history.
“Taking the top spot at Deloitte’s Fast 50 ranking is an incredibly proud moment for the team at Wayflyer,” said CEO Corbett.
“This recognition reflects the work we have put in since 2019 to provide funding to consumer brands, helping them solve problems that constrain their growth. The truth is, we’re only just getting started.”
While James Toomey, the Fast 50 lead at Deloitte said: “While Ireland has solidified its reputation as a global hub for technological excellence, the true highlight has been the remarkable growth of homegrown tech talent.
“I want to congratulate this year’s top ranked company – a pioneer who is one of the country’s first tech unicorns. Wayflyer’s achievement highlights the importance of local companies driving direct domestic investment and proving their prowess on a global stage.”
In addition to announcing the 50 fastest growing companies, Deloitte also awarded companies who achieved milestones in other categories.
The awards included Growing new technology Award (Alchemy), Advocate for Women in Tech (Louella Morton, co-founder of TestReach), Impact Award (Catagen), Scale Up Award (Kneat), Financial Services Innovation Award (MyComplianceOffice), Rising Star Award (Klearcom) and the Alumni Award (Ocuco).
Last year, Swoop, the global fintech won the top spot at the Deloitte Fast 50 Awards, while Buymie, the Dublin start-up specialising in same-day grocery delivery won the prize in 2022.
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