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A reflection on Ireland’s startup ecosystem in the wake of the NDRC shutdown, why accelerators matter, what other countries are doing right, and what it will take for Ireland to truly back its founders. We have the talent, ambition, and multinational presence, now we need intentional investment, aligned ambition, and operator-led infrastructure to build the next generation of global companies from Ireland.
Last Friday night, my co-founder Dan and I sat down for our weekly 1:1 in the Ferryman - rare, I swear, It’s usually a Saturday morning run! As usual, we started off discussing how the week went and anything that was going to spill over into the weekend, but the conversation inevitably turned to the recent NDRC announcement. It has left us, like every single other start-up founder in the country, scratching our heads and quite frankly very very frustrated.
We’re incredibly proud to be Irish founders and even more so that we’re building a US-focused company, here from this small island at the edge of the Atlantic. Whether we’re in the US, London, France or Germany, we’re always excited to share how Ireland’s startup ecosystem has evolved and is continuing to grow. Today, the Irish ecosystem can independently fund Irish startups up to Seed stage before they need to go to London or the US for Series A+ funding - a milestone that was naturally a lot harder to achieve 10 years ago. Henrik and Sheff at Playfair believe ‘they will find their next unicorn founders in Ireland, maybe even ones to challenge Stripe's crown’.
As we tucked into our first (and second last) pint we chatted about an event we had been to earlier this summer, at The Valentia Island Cable Center with fellow Irish founder Shane Curran (Evervault). For those who are unfamiliar with this incredible story, Valentia is where the first transatlantic cable was laid, connecting Europe and the US, a feat which at that time seemed impossible.
The similarities between building a startup and laying that first trans-Atlantic cable are plentiful. Without risk, there is no reward. Just as the transatlantic cable took perseverance, stubbornness, a high tolerance for risk, an unwavering belief that anything is possible, (and a lot of investment), the same could be said for building a start-up.
But building a startup ecosystem is much more complex, they’re more fragile and take longer to mature. You need a shared collective vision, a strategy focused on the resources you have at your disposal (more on this later) and ultimately, repeated success for it to become self-sustaining, fueling its own growth.
The vision of virtually everyone in the Irish startup ecosystem is quite clear - it’s some version of ‘we want the next Stripe to be built from Ireland’ or ‘we want more success stories like Intercom’. I worry that the NDRC shutdown is a symptom of a larger disease - this vision (or the true ambition of which) is not fundamentally understood or has not been aligned to, by the key government stakeholders who hold the power to (partially) fund its execution.
It’s clear that Ireland is producing incredible entrepreneurs, many of whom we saw voice their frustration last week on LI - they’re building companies that are in some cases competing on a global stage, and this is very exciting. Dan and I always say it, we’re so well set up, we just need to continue raising the bar as a collective.
✅ We have a world-class education system.
✅ Some of the biggest companies in the world have set up EU HQs here.
✅ We have the talent and people capable of building companies to compete and win on an international stage.
We've made incredible progress in growing our startup ecosystem over the past 10 years, BUT the incredibly short-sighted decision to cease funding for the NDRC risks undermining all of these efforts.
The health of a startup ecosystem can be measured by the strength of its accelerators.
The signal is almost as damaging as the decision in this case. Startup ecosystems are not built overnight but they can certainly begin to stagnate and crumble with decisions like this. Accelerators like the NDRC are essential and fundamental to any successful ecosystem. They provide the mentorship, networking, and environments that indigenous startups need to thrive. Without them, we risk stalling the momentum everyone involved has worked so hard to build!
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from successful startup ecosystems worldwide, it’s that they’re not built by accident. They require intentionality, investment, and most importantly, time (and patience of course!). Having spent quite some time with technical founders from France, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and the US over the last 3 years it’s clear why their ecosystems produce companies that win so often:
France has emerged as an EU startup powerhouse, thanks to initiatives like La French Tech. By combining government funding with private investment and no shortage of accelerators, France has created an ecosystem that’s produced ~29 unicorns like Minstral AI and Deezer.
The UK/London’s startup scene was built around a mix of financial institutions, world-class universities (Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, Warwick & Edinburgh), and targeted government policies like SEIS/EIS tax incentives for angel investors. As our closest neighbour, it’s the ecosystem we know the most about, yet again they have no shortage of accelerators. It’s what we could be (a smaller version obviously 😄) in 10-15 years if we continue to invest intentionally.
Germany is known for its strong industrial and automotive presence and engineering roots, Germany has developed a very performant startup ecosystem built predominantly around 2 main hubs, Berlin and Munich (LMU). Government initiatives like EXIST (a program supporting university-based startups), matured accelerators and strong venture funding from both local and international players have produced 30+ unicorns and a breeding ground for global companies like Volocopter, RobCo, and BioNTech.
Switzerland is a good example of an ecosystem that leverages its strengths in academia and industry, with innovation hubs like Zurich and Lausanne thriving because of the close collaboration between technical universities (ETH Zurich, EPFL) and private sector funding and plenty of accelerators. It’s a model that consistently produces high-tech, AI and robotic startups with global reach like ANYbotics and Acronis.
The US/SF is the gold standard for startup ecosystems and has the holy grail of accelerators, YC. 4% of YC companies become unicorns (compared to the 2.5% outcome for similar venture-backed seed-stage startups), and YC has funded 90+ billion dollar companies, just look how incredible this list is! Why are they so successful? There are so many reasons and I could write another piece on that based on what we learned from our experience in YCS21. Tldr; they preach (mantra-like) this essential startup advice, and given they have so many data points to reference, they’re incredible at identifying anti-patterns before there’s a chance of these causing the business to fail.
Its wider ecosystem success is rooted in a perfect storm of risk-tolerant capital, a culture that embraces failure, and a steady stream of talent from universities like Stanford and Berkeley. This model has been replicated across cities like New York, Austin, Boston, and Atlanta, each tailoring their ecosystems to local strengths. Anecdotally, ~80% of VCs in the US startup ecosystem are ex-operators (compared to ~20% in the UK), back to the mindset of scaling and execution. Side note worth reading this to understand the fundamental culture-rooted differences between the US and EU ecosystems. In the US they think big all the time, asking, “How can you win the market?” and prioritise big vision and the idea of market dominance, scalability, and transformative ideas over proven strong financial metrics (not saying they don’t care about these too).
What these countries understand is that startup ecosystems are built on more than just one thing alone. They rely on accelerators, venture funding, mentorship networks and favourable government policies.
Ireland has five accelerators on the list, but this number reduces depending on your focus:
When we put this into perspective and compare Ireland to these five global powerhouses, it’s clear that we’re placing our early-stage founders at a significant resource disadvantage. As a result, many fantastic companies and talented Irish founders sadly choose to build their businesses outside of Ireland.
At Protex AI, we’ve seen firsthand how transformative an accelerator can be. In 2021, we were fortunate to participate in Y Combinator (S21). Yes, the funding was super helpful; but the network and mindset it gave us transformed the trajectory of what we were building, it helped us think bigger and ultimately execute better than we would have without it.
Accelerators like the NDRC offer the same kind of environment, tailored to the unique challenges of Irish startups. They provide:
Ireland already has many of the raw materials needed to build a thriving startup ecosystem:
And yet, ecosystems don’t just happen. They need scaffolding. They need accelerators like the NDRC to provide mentorship, networking, and early-stage funding. Without these foundational pillars, it becomes infinitely harder for startups to grow, attract international investment, or even survive.
When a startup succeeds, the impact extends far beyond the founders. It creates a ripple effect that drives long-term ecosystem (and economic) growth:
Founders Angel Investing: Successful founders often become angel investors, reinvesting their wealth and experience into the next generation of startups. In ecosystems like Silicon Valley or Berlin, this “pay-it-forward” culture is what continues to drive its success.
Employees Who Go On to Build: Startups are a breeding ground for talent. Employees who’ve experienced the highs and lows of startup life often go on to build their own companies, bringing with them invaluable experience.
Attracting International Capital: The NDRC is instrumental in attracting international VCs and angels (like Playfair) to Ireland. Investing is a flywheel and as more companies succeed from Ireland the FOMO will attract more international capital. Over the past 18 years, portfolio start-ups that have moved through the NDRC have gone on to raise over €500 million in funding, €200 million of which was secured in the past four years alone. I haven’t seen the spreadsheet, but at €3.5m to run per annum (€2.2 million in operational expenses and €1.3 million in investment), I’d imagine it’s a pretty solid multiple on the initial SAFE investment. What also isn’t accounted for on that spreadsheet are start-ups that leverage the Dog Patch network to raise early capital. €14m over those 4 years to inject €200 (a large proportion of which is EU/US LP money) is a very solid, and promising result.
Founders Building Better After Failure: Failure is part of the startup journey. Founders who don’t succeed the first time often come back stronger. But without a supportive ecosystem, many of these founders may never try again, or worse, they may take their talents elsewhere, strengthening the private sector tech workforce (which is not necessarily a bad thing, it just doesn’t feed the ecosystem directly).
Under Dogpatch Labs & NDRC was (and is) the perfect synergy - it was (and is) the beating heart of Ireland’s startup ecosystem. Its founder-first approach and international connections created an ideal environment for building. Some great reads below from the Business Post:
The line that stuck with me most:
Revealed: Enterprise Ireland flagged cheaper NDRC alternatives … show the state agency praised the start-up accelerator but highlighted issues with the model
Cost and quality rarely go hand in hand. By investing less capital or in fewer startups, we will stagnate and inevitably fall short of any type of transformative success. By continuously investing more, accepting the risks (not expecting returns or results after 3 years) and nurturing potential, we can create the foundations for extraordinary outcomes.
Ireland’s startup community is resilient, evidenced by the collective response this week and last, but we need to act to ensure this decision doesn’t derail the progress we’ve made.
Here’s what we need:
I don’t claim to have the solution, but I do have a perspective shaped by lived experience and spending a lot of time over the last 3 years in the US and London with incredibly smart founders and investors. We’ve been fortunate to work with investors who back some most impressive companies in the world, with founders who reinvest in their ecosystems and are committed to giving back.
Key to all of the ideas/opinions above is ensuring that these efforts are informed by those who know what “good” or even “world-class” looks like - operators, investors, and founders who have seen success and understand what it takes to achieve it - and thankfully we have some many of these amazing people that want to give back. Combining private funding with targeted, informed government support and leveraging our unique resource (a multi-national powerhouse, thanks, in large part, to the IDA), Ireland can position itself as a global leader in building high-growth, world-class companies.
Without accelerators, Ireland risks losing its place as a competitive and supportive environment for Indigenous startups to thrive.
At Protex AI, we’ve been lucky. Our time at Y Combinator gave us resources that most Irish startups can only dream of. But that shouldn’t be the case. Every ambitious founder in Ireland deserves access to an accelerator like the NDRC.
Building a startup ecosystem takes years of intentional effort. It takes accelerators, investors, talent, and a willingness to embrace risk, not shy away from it. It takes long-term thinking and patience.
We have the ingredients to build something extraordinary here in Ireland. Let’s not let shortsighted decisions ruin what so many have worked so hard to build. Founders need the resources, infrastructure, and support to build world-class start-ups - and ensure Ireland’s next generation of startups has every opportunity to succeed.
