IRISHBICs Annual Report - Final - Flipbook - Page 21
WestBIC
Navigating Startup
Investment in Times
of Uncertainty
WestBIC, in partnership with Data2Sustain
and Enterprise Ireland, hosted a successful
conference at University of Galway focusing
on 'Navigating Startup Investment in Times
of Uncertainty'. The event brought together
investors, founders, startups, scaling
companies and ecosystem partners for a
day of strategic insights and networking.
The conference featured four expert-led
panel discussions covering MedTech,
Startups, Women Entrepreneurs and Scaling
Companies, with investors from 16 different
VCs, angels, and ecosystem supports
participating as speakers and panelists.
Méabh Conaghan, from Enterprise Ireland,
delivered closing comments, noting that
the day's themes consistently returned
to relationships, business opportunities,
collaboration, finance and investment –
the essential pillars of startup success.
The conference opened with strong
momentum data from Kevin Sherry,
Executive Director of Enterprise Ireland,
who highlighted that 157 new startups
were supported by Enterprise Ireland in
2024, with €27.6 million invested in earlystage businesses.
The conference provided valuable
learning and networking opportunities for
attendees navigating the challenges and
opportunities in today's startup investment
landscape.
Barry Downes of SVV delivered the day's
keynote presentation on AI market trends,
sharing that 40% of AI startups are now
building agent-based solutions, with the
market expected to reach $47 billion by 2028.
"Change is even bigger and coming faster than
you think", Downes told attendees, providing
eye-opening insights into the rapidly evolving
AI landscape.
Irish BICs Annual Report 2025
21
