Every week we take a look at some of the most interesting B2B stories from the past week. On the agenda this week is a Tipperary man sending AI robots to space, some interesting acquisitions, funding rounds, and whether or not your startup idea is any good!
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Environmental Agency MKO announce 75 new jobs
MKO this week took another step towards realizing their grand vision to help solve the defining environmental and societal challenges of our time. The announcement of 75 new jobs will bring their workforce to 300 and cements their position as Ireland’s largest planning and environmental consultancy. The company, which provides complex planning and environmental services to companies in a range of industries, is now entering into an exciting growth phase as it scales to meet increased demand. Read more.
The Benefits of Seeing the World as a Startup Does
Professor Rory McDonald recently sat down with s+b to outline why executives at larger companies should adopt a startup’s world view if they want to remain innovative. Startups, McDonald explains, “treat competitors not as rivals to differentiate from, but as stepping stones to borrow ideas from—ideas about new products and new ways of creating value.” The article also delves into some interesting ideas on AI and whether or not it can really help make creative breakthroughs - an area we too have looked into in the past at MFS. Read more.
Rekord raises $2.1 million in pre-seed funding
Dublin-based Rekord this week announced they had successfully raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding. Led by longtime friends Christopher Lynch (CEO) and Mark Noone (CTO), Rekord have identified and addressed the long standing inefficiencies of the modern lending process. In an area that is weighed down by legacy processes and disparate systems, Rekord brings together banking and lending systems with outside data sources like credit bureaus and open banking services - without the need to rip out any existing infrastructure. An AI-based solution that is compliant by design, Rekord looks set to play a central role in the long overdue transformation of the lending space. Read more.
Is Your Startup Idea Any Good?
At this stage, who doesn’t have a few nifty startup ideas in their back pocket? A recent article in First Round goes into some depth about the various validation methods deployed by successful startup founders. There are, it would seem, many ways to skin a cat and, if you are looking for ways to validate your startup idea, this article is certainly worth a look. Read more.
Irish Co-founded Icarus Secures $6.1m in Seed Round
Big news coming out of New York this week as Icarus, the space tech company co-founded by Tipperary man Jamie Palmer, has successfully raised $6.1m to build a robot labour force for space. The company’s robots will initially be human-operated, but the goal is to move towards an AI-powered autonomous robot that will carry out logistical and cargo-related tasks enabling astronauts to focus on more high value tasks. Read more.
60% of Irish Firms Using AI Daily
This week saw the release of an interesting survey from business advisory company, Azets which found that 60% of Irish companies are now using AI in their day-to-day processes. When you think of the impact ChatGPT and other AI tools have in our personal lives, then the figure might seem a little low, although enterprise software has always somewhat lagged behind its consumer counterpart. Another surprising finding was that smaller companies are not integrating AI tools as readily as larger companies. Read more.
Treaty Digital Acquired by Inpute Technologies
Nice success story emanating from Limerick this week with news of Inpute Technologies acquisition of Limerick’s Treaty Digital. Treaty’s proven expertise in the manufacturing sector made them an ideal fit with Inpute’s enterprise automation capabilities. Korie Gleeson and Alan Bourke - both key leadership figures at Treaty - will now join Inpute’s senior leadership team and embark on what looks set to be an exciting growth phase in the company’s history. Read more.
The Enduring Appeal of the B2B Case Study
This week on the MFS blog, we took a deep dive into the role of the case study in the modern B2B landscape - covering issues like why case studies are still so important, what makes a great one, and how to use it to win more business. Read more.
MFS is a boutique B2B Marketing Agency based in Ireland with a track record of creating and executing revenue-generating campaigns at companies ranging from rapid growth startups to F500s. In our weekly newsletter Forward Reads we bring you our own take on the top stories of the week that was covering topics such as startup news, Irish success stories, AI, strategy, and whatever else catches our attention.