Ireland’s Fintech Industry May Be Coming to North America

Americans asked to name an Irish fintech company often say Stripe, the company founded by two Ireland-born brothers that is dual headquartered in San Francisco and Dublin. Recently valued at $95 billion, its financial backers include Sequoia Capital and the Irish government via the National Treasury Management Agency.

Stripe’s Irish roots may not be a one-off. Though the Republic’s entire population (4.9M) is less than that of New York City (8.7M), it is home to nearly 250 indigenous fintech companies, dozens of which offer lending and payment products, according to the latest Fintech Ireland map. And many have expansion plans in the works.

Despite the close proximity to the UK, the United States and Canada tied for the #1 priority region that homegrown Irish fintech companies said they want to expand to, according to Fintech Ireland’s industry survey. The UK came in 2nd. The majority of Irish fintech companies actually said they prioritized expansion plans for the US and Canada even over expansion in their home country.

A flight from New York to Dublin can be shorter than a flight from New York to San Francisco and Ireland’s primary language is English. 7,000 people work in fintech in Ireland, the bulk of which are based in Dublin.

deBanked evaluated the market in-person during the Fall of 2019 and determined that there are many cultural and operational similarities to the US. A follow-up piece in May 2020 captured how the industry there was faring through the Covid pandemic.

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.