Paddy Power’s ASX has been the biggest earner on the Spark platform this year, raising €2.2m in less than a month.

Irish start-ups have raised more than €6m in total from members of the public in the first eight months of 2021, according to Spark Crowdfunding.

The biggest single raise on the platform in 2021 so far was Paddy Power’s ASX sports trading exchange, which netted €2.2m in less than a month. Next was Akkure Genomics, a NovaUCD company building software for clinical trials, which secured €1.2m.

Other big campaigns included AI company Tacenda raising €658,000 and remote working platform Bowsy securing €358,000. Wearable camera maker RedZinc also made use of the platform in recent months and e-scooter start-up Zipp Mobility crowdfunded €562,000 as part of a broader €1.3m funding round.

Spark Crowdfunding noted that companies classed by Enterprise Ireland as high-potential start-ups did particularly well on the platform, with Dublin-based Zipp Mobility being a prime example.

“Our investor database grew by over 140pc in the first six months of this year as the ordinary Irish individual spent more time online and had higher levels of disposable income,” said Spark Crowdfunding CEO Chris Burge.

Our average investment size is just €2,500, but when you multiply that across thousands of investors it doesn’t take long for them to build up the firepower of a venture capitalist. Our role is to facilitate connections between exciting Irish start-ups and individual investors interested in finding the next Stripe.”

The Spark Crowdfunding platform allows start-ups to seek early-stage investment from a wider group than traditional angel investors or VCs. Platform users can make equity investments of as little as €100.

The €6m figure to the end of August represents significant growth for Spark. In 2020, a total of €2.5m was invested through the platform.

“We want to give Irish investors access to new investment opportunities that would previously only have been open to venture capitalists or private equity firms,” Burge added.

“With new campaigns coming on stream every month, there are always new investment opportunities for Irish investors.”

Reporting: Silicon Republic