Tines co-founders Thomas Kinsella and Eoin Hinchy. Image: Tines
Along with Tines, other tech start-ups that have reappeared on the list include Wayflyer, Manna, Outmin, &Open and Deciphex.
LinkedIn has returned with another iteration of its annual top Irish start-ups list, with no-code automation start-up Tines taking the top spot.
Tines, which was founded by Eoin Hinchy and Thomas Kinsella in 2018, has bagged first place on the list after coming in second last year. The start-up, which was named by Sifted in 2022 as one of the next 10 technology companies to achieve unicorn status in Europe, has developed a no-code platform to automate manual security workloads.
Earlier this year, the former Start-up of the Week raised $50m in an extended Series B funding round led by Accel and Felicis.
Ranked just behind Tines this year is e-commerce financing start-up Wayflyer, which previously took the top spot in 2022. The tech unicorn, which secured $1bn in capital from US investment management firm Neuberger Berman last year, provides e-commerce businesses with loans to kick-start their business or improve cash flow in exchange for a share of future profits.
Both Tines and Wayflyer recently featured on France Digitale’s Leading European Tech Scale-ups (LETS) map for 2024.
Also featured in the top five for this year is financial services start-up Outmin, which offers accounting and bookkeeping services for businesses in the hospitality sector by leveraging AI; Circit, which has built a financial audit management platform that connects banks, accounting firms and clients; and &Open has developed a digital gifting platform for corporate clients.
Familiar faces and newcomers
Also featured on this year’s list is Manna Drone Delivery, making its fourth consecutive appearance since topping the inaugural rankings in 2021. Founded in 2018 by Bobby Healy, the drone delivery start-up has been making waves in the start-up scene, conducting food delivery trials in Blanchardstown and Dallas-Forth Worth in Texas.
Other start-ups that have returned to the list include pathology company Deciphex, which was featured last year, and ocean data start-up Xocean, which appeared on the list in 2022. Deciphex recently partnered with Swiss pharma giant Novartis to develop AI tools for drug discovery and development, and was crowned Medtech Company of the Year by the Irish Medtech Association at the end of 2023.
Xocean, which uses robots to collect ocean data, recently raised €30m in a Series B funding round led by Venturewave Capital.
Along with the familiar faces, there are also some start-ups making their debut in the rankings, including electric vehicle (EV) charging company ePower and tech refurbishment company Alchemy.
Cork-based ePower, which installs, maintains and manages EV charging infrastructure across Ireland, recently raised €16m to expand its operations.
Alchemy, which is based in Dublin, refurbishes smartphones, computers and tablets to extend their lifespan.
According to LinkedIn, the rankings are compiled based on four pillars: employment growth, engagement, job interest and talent attraction. Eligible start-ups also need to be seven years old or younger and have 30 or more full-time employees.
“These companies aren’t just growing fast and garnering attention from investors and jobseekers,” said LinkedIn, “they’re also building innovative solutions that are shaping the future of their industries, whether it’s leveraging artificial intelligence to automate daily work tasks or establishing electric vehicle charging networks.”
Last year’s list was topped by non-tech start-up Sculpted by Aimee, an Irish make-up brand that has operations in Ireland, the UK and the Middle East.
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