Innovation is something that we are constantly striving toward, but especially in key industries. The climate crisis has created a need for a revolution in technology and how solutions are financed, while the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated how drugs are developed far beyond the way pipelines operated before. Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming ever more important — though not without its challenges — and other types of deep technology (or deep tech) such as materials science and quantum computing are exciting the business and academic worlds. Advances in synthetic biology are helping to provide innovative solutions in sectors from packaging to space travel, with biotech companies among the world’s biggest spenders on research and development. And while innovation in these areas is happening all over the world, several companies are now putting their investment — in money and time — into Ireland.
Discover the innovation happening across each of these three sectors.
State of
deep tech
STATE OF
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
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GREEN FINANCE
State of
Innovation
What is deep tech
Deep tech is a wide-ranging term that covers innovations and scientific research that apply technology in new ways to solve big problems. Deep-tech companies are usually based on scientific breakthroughs and operate in areas including artificial intelligence, biotech, blockchain, life sciences, and chemicals and materials. They differ from general tech firms that are often directed at consumers; deep tech tackles global issues around climate change, food production, and medical advances.
By their very nature, deep-tech innovations require a lot of research and development and may take time to be approved by regulators or come to market, so investors are likely to have a long-term interest in it. Indeed, private investment in deep tech increased by 22% between 2015 and 2018 to reach $17.9 billion.
Areas of application
The numbers
How Ireland makes it happen
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Ireland has a long history of scientific breakthroughs. Trinity College professor William Rowan Hamilton was so excited by his discovery of four-dimensional numbers called quaternions that he famously inscribed their algebraic formula onto Dublin’s Broom Bridge in 1843 — a finding that now has applications in aircraft and rockets. George Boole, meanwhile, was University College Cork’s first mathematician, whose pioneering work in the 1850s created the system of logic that became the foundation for technology as we know it today.
Ireland has a growing base of deep tech R&D, both in academic and industry domains. The country has made investment in areas like artificial intelligence and semiconductors as well as advanced communications engineering, leading to spinouts such as InfiniLED, acquired by virtual reality leader Facebook Reality Labs (formerly known as Oculus).
Test beds such as Pervasive Nation, Smart Dublin and Future Mobility Campus Ireland allow leading technologies such as Internet of Things and autonomous connected vehicles to be developed and tested collaboratively.
Industry R&D is performed by many companies at the cutting edge of their industries. This includes Intel, which has centers in Ireland focused on both computer vision and cloud and network computing. Other semiconductor leaders such as Qualcomm and Analog Devices also have large R&D centers in Ireland, a testimony to the strength of deep tech in the industry here.
Find out more about the deep-tech sector in Ireland
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Materials science is another area of deep tech MIT is working on, and in November a team of researchers sent high-tech fabric samples to the International Space Station, hoping to detect “cosmic dust of scientific interest.” The samples will spend a year in space, and the researchers involved ultimately hope that astronauts of the future will wear space suits whose textiles can
monitor their health in real time.
Deep tech is also being applied to transportation. Autonomous cars have had much publicity, but they’re not the only vehicles that will be able to drive themselves. A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed an autonomous electric bicycle that could be used in bike-sharing schemes, with the idea that it can drive itself to whomever calls for one via an app.
One of the most innovative recent deep tech breakthroughs has been the launch of an AI-powered satellite into space, the first of its kind according to Intel, which was part of a team behind the initiative. Intel designed an AI chip called the Movidius Myriad 2, a device that allowed a camera onboard the satellite – PhiSat-1 – to filter out the clouds that often appear when satellites take photos of the Earth. The chip – designed in Ireland – has made for a significant development, given that clouds make up around two-thirds of satellite pictures, which wastes time and storage space. It paves the way for more advanced technology, such as satellites that can monitor wildfires and notify responders or spot oil spills in the ocean.
European deep-tech companies have raised more than $36 billion since 2016
Venture capital investment in deep tech in the US, China and Europe
Venture capital investment in
deep tech, Europe, 2015-2020
State of
deep tech
STATE OF
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
STATE OF
GREEN FINANCE
STATE OF
GREEN FINANCE
STATE OF
GREEN FINANCE
STATE OF
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
STATE OF
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
State of
deep tech
State of
deep tech
UK
DE
FR
SE
NL
FI
BE
IE
Source - 2021: The year of deep tech report by European Startups, Dealroom and Sifted.
$0
$4b
$8b
$12b
$16b
Source - 2021: The year of deep tech report by European Startups, Dealroom and Sifted.
$0
$20b
$30b
$40b
$50b
US
China
Source - Atomico’s State of European Tech 2020 report, which used Dealroom data
$0
$3b
$6b
$9b
$12b
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
European deep-tech companies have raised more than $36 billion since 2016
Venture capital investment in deep tech in the US, China and Europe
Venture capital investment in
deep tech, Europe, 2015-2020
Europe
(Excluding the UK)
$10b
2018
2019
2020
Ireland ranks highly in terms of innovation; the country comes in at No.15 on the Global Innovation Index 2020 [source, table 1.1, Page 65], scoring particularly well for its knowledge and technology outputs and its infrastructure. It is well-placed for R&D: Science and technology companies get a 25% tax credit on qualifying R&D spending, while small to medium-size businesses (SMEs) can claim 30%. And when a company creates certain types of intellectual property (IP) from qualifying R&D, the corporate tax rate is only 6.25% for the income generated – part of Ireland’s Knowledge Development Box plan.
Nine of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies have locations in Ireland, and there are more than 260 overseas firms in the life-sciences sector with offices operations in the country. Though the pandemic affected hiring globally, healthcare and tech companies continued to grow in Ireland, according to LinkedIn’s Labour Market Pulse published in November.
In addition, Ireland has invested an average of more than €1 billion ($1.22 billion) in biotechnology projects every year between 2013 and 2019 and, with its drug-manufacturing expertise, expects to increase its production in novel areas of therapeutics.
How Ireland makes it happen
Source: World Intellectual Property Organization Global Innovation Index 2020
0%
5%
15%
20%
25%
IT and
communications
hardware
Source - 2021: The year of deep tech report by European Startups, Dealroom and Sifted.
$0
$200t
$400t
$600t
$800t
Sana
Biotechnology
Source: McKinsey Global Institute, The Bio Revolution report
0%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Human health
and performance
Pharmaceuticals and biotech companies are among the world’s top research and development spenders: top 5 sectors for R&D expenditure, 2018-19
Pharmaceuticals and biotech companies are among the world’s top research and development spenders: top 5 sectors for R&D expenditure, 2018-19
Top 5 synthetic-biology startups in the US, by funding round
Top 5 synthetic-biology startups in the US, by funding round
The annual potential economic impact of the ‘bio revolution’
The annual potential economic impact of the ‘bio revolution’
The numbers
Beyond Earth, NASA is undertaking research using synbio in food for astronauts that can be stored for long periods but grows the right nutrients when hydrated. The organization is also looking at biomanufacturing to create spare parts and other items “on demand” in space using raw materials found on the surface of Mars and in the atmosphere.
Food production is another area where there is a lot of potential for synbio. The alternative-protein company Impossible Foods has raised $1.5 billion in funding since it was founded in 2011, while Memphis Meats, which produces real meat in a lab,
raised $161 million in January 2020.
One of the biggest recent breakthroughs in synbio is CRISPR, a biochemical gene-editing tool that can be used to potentially treat a wide range of medical conditions. Scientists have worked out how to use it to make precise edits to DNA in plants and mammals — and it could be used in humans. In 2020, scientists reported it was safely used in three cancer patients.
Areas of application
Synthetic biology — or synbio — has the potential to provide innovative ways to solve global challenges. It’s based on the idea that living cells can be engineered to behave in a certain way, just as computers can be programmed for particular outcomes, and is a rapidly evolving technology that sits at the intersection of fields including biology, computing, and engineering.
From fuel created when anaerobic bacteria are used to produce ethanol from organic waste to mushroom-root fibers that can be used to “grow” biodegradable packaging, synbio is being applied in industries including healthcare, agriculture, and environmental science.
What is synthetic biology?
10%
Based on expenditure by the top 2,500 R&D spending companies globally
Pharma and
biotech
Automobiles
Software
and ICT services
Industrial
engineering
Impossible
Foods
Moderna
Therapeutics
Apeel
Sciences
Memphis
Meats
First half of 2020
By sometime between 2030 and 2040, McKinsey estimates that advances
in biological sciences could have a direct influence on related industries.
10%
Agriculture,
aquaculture,
and food
Consumer products
and services
Materials, chemicals,
and energy
Find out more about the green-finance sector in Ireland
The Emerald Isle is keen on green: Sustainability is a key part of the IDA Ireland’s new strategy, which has pledged to support 60 investments between 2021 and 2024. The country is also among the top issuers of green bonds, having entered the market in 2018 with a €3 billion ($3.7 billion) raise by the country’s National Treasury Management Agency.
Green funding is also a key pillar of the government’s Ireland for Finance strategy to 2025: In December, it passed a key bill to speed up Ireland’s development as a green finance center and make it more attractive for overseas money managers.
The trend appears set to continue: The Irish bank AIB raised €1 billion ($1.22 billion) worth of green bonds in September, while the Bank of Ireland announced a new framework in order to issue green bonds, which are expected to raise between €300 million ($367 million) and €750 million ($918 million). Proceeds will go toward funding green buildings, renewable energy, and electric vehicles, the bank said in September.
And in another nod to Ireland’s growing profile in the green finance world, the United Nations’ green money arm, the Financial Centers for Sustainability Network (FC4S), appointed Stephen Nolan, a long-time environmental business champion in Ireland, as its managing director in 2019. Nolan is founder of Sustainable Finance Ireland, a body that advances the country’s green agenda.
How Ireland makes it happen
Source: Climate Bonds Initiative 2019 Green Bond Market Summary
Figures are 2019
31%
Energy
Source: Climate Bonds Global Green Bonds 2019 report
$0
$100b
$200b
$300b
2018
Source: GSIA Global Sustainable Investment Review 2018
$0
$5t
$10t
$15t
Europe
Funds in green or sustainable investments, 2016 to 2018
Where money raised is allocated:
Energy and buildings dominated green proceeds allocation
Where money raised is allocated:
Energy and buildings dominated green proceeds allocation
Global green-bond issuance
Global green-bond issuance
Global sustainable-investing assets
Global sustainable-investing assets
The numbers
Meanwhile, venture capitalists and wealthy people are also showing a growing interest in green investing. Bill Gates set up his $1 billion Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund in 2015, a vehicle that has invested in companies such as the circular-supply-chain firm Redwood Materials, which is led by former Tesla executives.
And the trend appears set to continue: 28% of investors in a September survey by RBC Global Asset Management said the importance of ESG factors had risen because of the pandemic.
Data from the researcher Morningstar showed that the market for environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) reached $1 trillion in Europe in the third quarter of 2020, including some funds that are aligned with the Paris agreement — meaning companies invested in it must reduce their carbon emissions by 7% on average each year. For example, the Franklin S&P 500 Paris Aligned Climate UCITS ETF includes a mixture of companies in the IT, healthcare, and communications industries and launched in July.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated interest in green investments. According to Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the largest money manager, there has been a “surge of interest” in investments in sustainable products. “We believe that sustainability should be our new standard for investing,” Fink wrote in his
annual letter to clients in July. And BlackRock now expects this move toward sustainability to create better payoffs, “contrary to past consensus,” its 2021 global outlook said.
Areas of application
Green finance refers to funding for projects or businesses that are dedicated to positive environmental results. It can mean everything from bonds issued to support climate projects to venture-capital investments in green startups — and it has enormous potential for investors, in part because of countries signaling their intents to become climate-neutral.
In August, China, the largest carbon-dioxide emitter, announced its goal
to reach net-zero emissions by 2060 — an ambition that may cost it more than $5 trillion. The investment company NN Investment Partners estimates that the market for green bonds alone will reach €1 trillion ($1.22 trillion) by the end of 2021 and €2 trillion ($2.44 trillion) by the
end of 2023. In 2021, the EU is set to implement its Green Bond Standard, which is likely to further stimulate the industry.
But green finance isn’t without its challenges. Asset managers say
financial models often don’t consider the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which “may lead to mis-priced risk and return analysis.” The UN is working to align funding systems with the SDGs, with the World Economic Forum estimating $5 trillion to $7 trillion a year is required to finance them.
What is green finance?
US
Japan
Canada
Australia/
New Zealand
2016
2018
2019
30%
Buildings
20%
Transport
9%
Water
10%
Other
Find out more about the synbio sector in Ireland.
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Created by
One of the most innovative recent deep tech breakthroughs has been the launch of an AI-powered satellite into space, the first of its kind according to Intel, which was part of a team behind the initiative. Intel designed an AI chip called the Movidius Myriad 2, a device that allowed a camera onboard the satellite – PhiSat-1 – to filter out the clouds that often appear when satellites take photos of the Earth. The chip – designed in Ireland – has made for a significant development, given that clouds make up around two-thirds of satellite pictures, which wastes time and storage space. It paves the way for more advanced technology, such as satellites that can monitor wildfires and notify responders or spot oil spills in the ocean.
One of the most innovative recent deep tech breakthroughs has been the launch of an AI-powered satellite into space, the first of its kind according to Intel, which was part of a team behind the initiative. Intel designed an AI chip called the Movidius Myriad 2, a device that allowed a camera onboard the satellite – PhiSat-1 – to filter out the clouds that often appear when satellites take photos of the Earth. The chip – designed in Ireland – has made for a significant development, given that clouds make up around two-thirds of satellite pictures, which wastes time and storage space. It paves the way for more advanced technology, such as satellites that can monitor wildfires and notify responders or spot oil spills in the ocean.
Find out more about the
deep-tech sector in Ireland
Ireland has a long history of scientific breakthroughs. Trinity College professor William Rowan Hamilton was so excited by his discovery of four-dimensional numbers called quaternions that he famously inscribed their algebraic formula onto Dublin’s Broom Bridge in 1843 — a finding that now has applications in aircraft and rockets. George Boole, meanwhile, was University College Cork’s first mathematician, whose pioneering work in the 1850s created the system of logic that became the foundation for technology as we know it today.
Ireland has a growing base of deep tech R&D, both in academic and industry domains. The country has made investment in areas like artificial intelligence and semiconductors as well as advanced communications engineering, leading to spinouts such as InfiniLED, acquired by virtual reality leader Facebook Reality Labs (formerly known as Oculus).
Test beds such as Pervasive Nation, Smart Dublin and Future Mobility Campus Ireland allow leading technologies such as Internet of Things and autonomous connected vehicles to be developed and tested collaboratively.
Industry R&D is performed by many companies at the cutting edge of their industries. This includes Intel, which has centres in Ireland focused on both computer vision and cloud and network computing. Other semiconductor leaders such as Qualcomm and Analog Devices also have large R&D centers in Ireland, a testimony to the strength of deep tech in the industry here.
How Ireland makes it happen
Venture capital investment in
deep tech, Europe, 2015-2020
Venture capital investment in
deep tech, Europe, 2015-2020
Venture capital investment in deep tech in the US, China and Europe
Venture capital investment in deep tech in the US, China and Europe
European deep-tech companies have raised more than $36 billion since 2016
European deep-tech companies have raised more than $36 billion since 2016
The numbers
Materials science is another area of deep tech MIT is working on, and in November a team of researchers sent high-tech fabric samples to the International Space Station, hoping to detect “cosmic dust of scientific interest.” The samples will spend a year in space, and the researchers involved ultimately hope that astronauts of the future will wear space suits whose textiles can monitor their health in real time.
Deep tech is also being applied to transportation. Autonomous cars have had much publicity, but they’re not the only vehicles that will be able to drive themselves. A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed an autonomous electric bicycle that could be used in bike-sharing schemes, with the idea that it can drive itself to whomever calls for one via an app.
One of the most innovative recent deep tech breakthroughs has been the launch of an AI-powered satellite into space, the first of its kind according to Intel, which was part of a team behind the initiative. Intel designed an AI chip called the Movidius Myriad 2, a device that allowed a camera onboard the satellite – PhiSat-1 – to filter out the clouds that often appear when satellites take photos of the Earth. The chip – designed in Ireland – has made for a significant development, given that clouds make up around two-thirds of satellite pictures, which wastes time and storage space. It paves the way for more advanced technology, such as satellites that can monitor wildfires and notify responders or spot oil spills in the ocean.
Areas of application
Deep tech is a wide-ranging term that covers innovations and scientific research that apply technology in new ways to solve big problems. Deep-tech companies are usually based on scientific breakthroughs and operate in areas including artificial intelligence, biotech, blockchain, life sciences, and chemicals and materials. They differ from general tech firms that are often directed at consumers; deep tech tackles global issues around climate change, food production, and medical advances.
By their very nature, deep-tech innovations require a lot of research and development and may take time to be approved by regulators or come to market, so investors are likely to have a long-term interest in it. Indeed, private investment in deep tech increased by 22% between 2015 and 2018 to reach $17.9 billion.
What is deep tech
Find out more about the
synbio sector in Ireland.
Ireland ranks highly in terms of innovation; the country comes in at No.15 on the Global Innovation Index 2020 [source, table 1.1, Page 65], scoring particularly well for its knowledge and technology outputs and its infrastructure. It is well-placed for R&D: Science and technology companies get a 25% tax credit on qualifying R&D spending, while small to medium-size businesses (SMEs) can claim 30%. And when a company creates certain types of intellectual property (IP) from qualifying R&D, the corporate tax rate is only 6.25% for the income generated – part of Ireland’s Knowledge Development Box plan.
Nine of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies have locations in Ireland, and there are more than 260 overseas firms in the life-sciences sector with offices operations in the country. Though the pandemic affected hiring globally, healthcare and tech companies continued to grow in Ireland, according to LinkedIn’s Labour Market Pulse published in November.
In addition, Ireland has invested an average of more than €1 billion ($1.22 billion) in biotechnology projects every year between 2013 and 2019 and, with its drug-manufacturing expertise, expects to increase its production in novel areas of therapeutics.
How Ireland makes it happen
Based on expenditure by the top
2,500 R&D spending companies globally
By sometime between 2030 and 2040, McKinsey estimates that advances in biological sciences could have a direct influence on related industries.
Pharmaceuticals and biotech companies are among the world’s top research and development spenders: top 5 sectors for R&D expenditure, 2018-19
Pharmaceuticals and biotech companies are among the world’s top research and development spenders: top 5 sectors for R&D expenditure, 2018-19
Top 5 synthetic-biology startups
in the US, by funding round
Top 5 synthetic-biology startups
in the US, by funding round
The annual potential economic
impact of the ‘bio revolution’
The annual potential economic
impact of the ‘bio revolution’
The numbers
Beyond Earth, NASA is undertaking research using synbio in food for astronauts that can be stored for long periods but grows the right nutrients when hydrated. The organization is also looking at biomanufacturing to create spare parts and other items “on demand” in space using raw materials found on the surface of Mars and in the atmosphere.
Food production is another area where there is a lot of potential for synbio. The alternative-protein company Impossible Foods has raised $1.5 billion in funding since it was founded in 2011, while Memphis Meats, which produces real meat in a lab, raised $161 million in January 2020.
One of the biggest recent breakthroughs in synbio is CRISPR, a biochemical gene-editing tool that can be used to potentially treat a wide range of medical conditions. Scientists have worked out how to use it to make precise edits to DNA in plants and mammals — and it could be used in humans. In 2020, scientists reported it was safely used in three cancer patients.
Areas of application
Synthetic biology — or synbio — has the potential to provide innovative ways to solve global challenges. It’s based on the idea that living cells can be engineered to behave in a certain way, just as computers can be programmed for particular outcomes, and is a rapidly evolving technology that sits at the intersection of fields including biology, computing, and engineering.
From fuel created when anaerobic bacteria are used to produce ethanol from organic waste to mushroom-root fibers that can be used to “grow” biodegradable packaging, synbio is being applied in industries including healthcare, agriculture, and environmental science.
What is synthetic biology?
STATE OF
GREEN FINANCE
STATE OF
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
State of
deep tech
STATE OF
GREEN FINANCE
STATE OF
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
State of
deep tech
STATE OF
GREEN FINANCE
STATE OF
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
State of
deep tech