One of the biggest hubs for FinTech companies is based in San Francisco but when you look at their origins, you will see that they are very much Irish. Stripe, which is a payment company, was founded by John and Patrick Collison. They have raised £250m, making it easily one of the most valuable start-ups around. A good chunk of the cash that they do end up making is going to be making its way to Ireland. Stripe wants to end the year with 300 staff. Out of the 14 offices they have, it would seem that Stripe’s Dublin office is easily the fastest growing and this is especially the case when you look at the company’s international market.
It is great to see that Stripe is investing their profits in Ireland and that this is going to generate even more jobs for those who live in Dublin. Why did the Collison brothers choose to set up here in the first place though?
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Ireland is Now Open For Business
For a lot of banks, the outpost has truly been a no-brainer. It has the second-lowest tax rate in Europe and on top of this, they have over 400 moving businesses there too. The total employment rate in Irish tech is 42,000. Big tech is truly on board with this, when you look at Facebook, Google and of course, Eventbrite. You also have AirBNB as well as Etsy and Corporate FX services. Some of them are even designated as being European headquarters too. Of course, Sweden is also a very popular location for start-ups. When you look at a Swedish comparison portal Prekredit, you will see that they have expanded greatly and that is because of the thriving tech market. It’s not big companies that are able to thrive in Ireland and Sweden though[SJ1].
When you look at Enterprise Ireland, you will see that they have been fuelling Irish companies for quite some time. In 2015, the organisation was ranked as being the largest seed-stage funder around. Venture firms which happen to include Kernal Capital as well as Delta Partners have been able to call Dublin their home since the 1990s. In 2017, Tech Ireland, which is an independent network, has been able to connect the dots for the ecosystem in general. One year later, Dublin was able to host the Techstars week for start-ups.
The Irish Opportunity
A lot of people love backing founders who are from places such as Dublin. A Huckletree investor has stated that he is on the hunt for new start-ups who would go on to work for his new firm. His new launch is called Outrun Ventures and this focuses on Fintech where possible. He has released a statement saying that he is investing in small teams and that he is trying to find out how they fit in the current market. This can be done in a country that has a very supportive ecosystem.
Banking Apps
The word Fintech started cropping up now and again over a decade ago. It came as the result of the financial crash and this left people wanting to find a solution that did not involve big banks. The likes of N26 and even Revolut have all been giving a huge chunk of the population, even those who are outside the bubble, some experience in how tech-powered banking works. The response has been very enthusiastic to say the least and all three of the businesses are now known for being international unicorns. This is great news for the country and it just goes to show how much things have advanced over the years. Tech is booming, and it’s safe to say that it’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Right now, it would seem that they are going through a very big maturation phase. It’s been pointed out that Revolut are now taking staff from Goldman Sachs as well as from Deutsche Bank. They have stated that it is very interesting to see how some of the hires are working and it may even work to ultimately legitimise the scrappy start-ups in general.
At the end of the day, you have to know that Fintech is much bigger than baking apps. The term should be ultimately defined as being any type of company that is able to sell their product to a financial institution. This is where banks or even insurance companies are buying the product.
We know that there are some of these firms already, including Funsquire as well as Koyo. Kontainers also make sure that they provide an automated and combined booking system for their shipping firms. Their neighbours, who are Know Your Customer, are crime fighters in the world of finance and they perform ID checks to try and find out if there are any attempts at money laundering.
