Figures from TechIreland show that while women founders are still in the minority across core tech industries, Ireland is faring well.

“We tracked about €79m in funding last year for female founders out of a total of €600m,” said TechIreland’s Niamh Bushnell at the Enterprise Ireland High-Potential Start-Up Showcase last February.

She said that this is a strong figure compared with international levels and that there are a lot of start-ups led by women founders – including Soapbox Labs and Nuritas – excelling in areas of deep tech.

However, while Irish women founders punch above their weight, it is worth remembering that, internationally, the overall situation remains bleak.

“It is a sad story. All over the world, female funding is really, really low – well below 10pc and more like 5pc. And, while we [Ireland] have it in the teens and are very strong in terms of female funding, a lot of the credit goes to Enterprise Ireland who, at the seed round stage, give a lot of funding for female founders and have special programmes for them.”

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Words by John Kennedy