Lessons from the month of February

Spring has sprung! And thank goodness for that. While we bask in some extra sunlight, join us in reflecting on the month of February, and what we learned in the interim.

1. Elon Musk says Neuralink’s first human trial participant is going well.

One month after tech tycoon Elon Musk’s company Neuralink engaged in a highly controversial experiment which saw a computer chip implanted into a patient, the world’s richest man has said that things are going just fine. “Progress is good, patient seems to have made a full recovery … and is able to control the mouse, move the mouse around the screen just by thinking,” Musk said recently in a conversation at an X (formerly Twitter) Spaces event. “We’re trying to get as many button presses as possible from thinking, so that’s what we’re currently working on is — can we get left mouse, right mouse, mouse down, mouse up,” he said, “which is kind of needed if you want to click and drag something, you need mouse down and to hold on mouse down.”

Back in January, an undisclosed number of trial patients who have motor issues had a chip surgically placed by Neuralink in the part of the brain that controls the intention to move. The chip, installed by a robot, was put there with the initial goal being “to grant people the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone,” the company wrote in September.

Early success in the first human trial of the brain chip technology could mark an important milestone for Neuralink’s efforts to usher potentially life-transforming technology — especially for people unable to move or communicate — out of the lab and into the real world. However, Musk has offered few details and no evidence about the outcome of the operation, so it’s not yet clear how significant a scientific advancement this is. Read more about it in our blog here.

2. The fall of the Body Shop.

Irish employees at The Body Shop sought representation from trade union, SIPTU, this month as fears grow that its impending closure may impact staff redundancy payments. The cosmetics chain, which has seven stores in the Republic, closed its Irish stores on Thursday, February 29.

This follows a tumultuous period for the struggling retailer, which last year, was sold to Pan–European investor Aurelius, which owns Footasylum and Lloyds Pharmacy, in a deal worth £207m (€242m). Most of the retailer’s European business was then subsequently sold to another buyer, who was not named.

3. 2023 was a good year to work in VC.

Funds invested into Irish SMEs amounted to €1.35bn in 2023, a figure 2% up on the previous year according to the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA) VenturePulse report, published in association with William Fry just a few days ago. IVCA chairperson Denise Sidhu said the first half of 2023 was extremely strong, with €960m of investment, but the H2 tally was much weaker, at €390m.

“This is not totally surprising in a year where VC funding globally fell by 38% in 2023,” said IVCA chairperson Denise Sidhu. “It was a positive year and last quarter for start-ups looking to raise less than €5m, but it was far more challenging for firms seeking larger amounts.”

Also commenting on the figures was Sarah–Jane Larkin, director general at IVCA, who stated Ireland’s overreliance on foreign investment: “Ireland Inc has become over-reliant on scaling finance provided by international backers. International funding into Irish tech SMEs amounted to two–thirds of the total for 2023, with  €745m invested of the total €1.35bn invested in eight companies.” She said that the sector breakdown for the year reflected innovative tech companies participating in new technologies. Envirotech accounted for 45% of total funds raised in 2023, followed by life sciences at 17% and software at 8%.

“Artificial intelligence and machine learning represented 7% or €98m of the total in 2023, almost at the same level of software, one of the traditional leaders in Irish funding,” Larkin said.

4. Health-related M&A’s were big news.

Loughrea-based business Chanelle Pharma, Ireland’s largest indigenous manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals, was acquired by private equity firm Exponent. And while terms haven’t been disclosed publicly, Exponent typically invests in firms with an enterprise value of €150M-500M.

Chanelle Pharma employs over 730 people in Ireland, the UK, Europe and Jordan and provides research and product development services, including the production of generic human and veterinary pharmaceuticals.

It is Exponent’s sixth platform investment in Ireland after Fintax (now known as Planet), the Racing Post, Enva, H&MV Engineering, and Xeinadin. Exponent recently opened a Dublin office in addition to locations in London and Amsterdam, and beyond Ireland and the UK, it also operates in the Benelux and Nordics regions. Exponent has raised more than €3B to date.

In other M&A news, Macquarie Asset Management has agreed to buy the Denis O’Brien-owned Beacon Hospital in Sandyford in Dublin. O’Brien bought control of the hospital in April 2014, and it has since grown to have thrice the number of patients and double the number of staff.

Ownership of the Beacon Hospital is structured through multiple companies, with Sayum Holdings Corporation Limited, registered in the Isle of Man, at or near the apex. The Beacon Medical Group Sandyford Limited, an investment holding company whose principal activity is the operation of Beacon Hospital, had a turnover of €202m in 2022 and booked an operating profit of €9m, down from €12m the previous year.

5. Retail is on the slow.

In rather unsurprising news, retail sales have slowed down significantly by way of the cost of living crisis. According to the Central Statistics Office, figures show the volume of sales rose by 0.5% in January and were up by 2.7% based on the same time last year. However, when car sales were excluded, the volume of sales fell by 0.1%.

In summary: As the days get longer and things start to feel a bit more hopeful, there’s nothing like stories about the cost of living crisis to bring you right back down to Earth. Pennies are being pinched everywhere, it seems, with a pivot to extreme couponing looking more tantalising all the time.

The good news is that no one at RTÉ is going hungry. Not least anyone who’s been sacked, given the juiciness of their redundancies. You’d almost wished to be sacked, wouldn’t you?

Other good news to think about is the fact that Elon Musk is seemingly going to continue to entertain us with his chaotic energy forever. With the energy of Richie Rich and the gall of McGregor, there is no limit to what Daddy Technology will do to keep us all talking about him. Expect a presidential bid in the next two years.

In the meantime, let’s hope that this fresh, springy vibe we’re currently experiencing continues – Happy early International Women’s Day and chat next month!

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