What is Fintech Ireland?

But first, I’m going to tell you what companies I consider to be part of Fintech Ireland. And to do that, let’s agree on what companies are NOT Fintech Ireland.

Your company isn’t Fintech Ireland if it’s:

A company founded outside of Ireland, even if they have an office in Ireland or the founders are born and raised in Ireland. Sorry Stripe.
A company that services several industries or sectors, even if Financial Services is part of your market. Sorry Intercom.
A company that is “Coming Soon”, in “beta” – or is no longer operating. Sorry Anglo Irish Bank.
A company that provides consulting, managed services or people-based solutions – even if they use Excel – it’s not Fintech. Sorry Accenture Tech Labs.

Still with me? Good. OK, I know this a pretty thin definition, and Fintech Ireland could include lots more. What about the rest of the ecosystem?

Global companies who operate in Ireland
Consulting and Service companies
Software as a Service Providers
Venture Capital and other sources of Fintech funding
Accelerators, Incubators and other support programmes
Mentors, industry experts and analysts
FPAI. IFS2020. BPFI. NPP. WTF?
Banks. Remember them? They haven’t gone away you know

I said I would tell you what “Fintech Ireland” means. To do this means looking beyond a simple list of companies and exploring the ecosystem. So I’ll do that – but not in this post. For now, you’re going to have to make do with a list of Fintech Ireland companies.

Who’s missing? Who should be removed? Who’s in the wrong category? Don’t agree with these categories? Tweet me at @supergingerdave and let’s make version 0.2 even better.