Kota is ranked 9th on Sifted’s list of fastest growing startups in the UK and Ireland
Protex AI, Altra, Barespace, Tines, Nory and CleverCards also made this year’s list.
Despite London’s usual dominance in Sifted’s annual list of the 100 fastest growing startups in Ireland and the UK, Dublin’s Kota managed to break into the top 10 this year.
The Irish insurance and employee benefits platform has reached ninth place in the 2026 list, with a two-year CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of more than 640pc. The four-year-old’s debut last raised $14.5m in May 2025, taking its total to date to nearly $23m.
“This ranking reflects the work we have done over the past three years building our infrastructure and network of insurance and pension providers, and the value it allows us to bring to clients,” Kota celebrated in a post on LinkedIn.
The company’s employee health insurance and benefits platform aims to empower startups and scaling organizations to automate and manage group benefits.
Others on this year’s list include Dublin-based Limerick-based Protex AI, which raised $36m earlier last year to expand across the US. The company founded in 2021 is ranked 21st on the list with a CAGR of 313pc.
The AI-enabled Protex platform connects to CCTV devices and uses computer vision to automatically capture unsafe events. The startup has about 80 employees.
Meanwhile, Care-tech Altra ranked number 41 with a CAGR of just over 200pc. Founded in 2019, the startup has reached profitability. “This recognition represents a real change in the care sector,” the company said.
Dublin’s Barespace, meanwhile, which bills itself as an “active program” for the hair and beauty industry, has reached 56th place – and the highest-ranked seed start-up on the list.
Founded in 2022, the company has approximately 32 employees. Last September, it announced a 2.9 million euro round to accelerate its UK and European expansion.
Irish automation unicorn Tines climbed 12 places in the list from last year, reaching 70th place with a CAGR of 136pc. The company, which has about 400 employees, recently announced 100 new jobs in Boston as demand for its AI tools increases in the US.
Founded in 2018, Tines reached unicorn status in February 2025 after a $125m Series C round. The company has raised $272m to date from investors including Goldman Sachs, SoftBank, Felicis, Addition, Accel, Blossom Capital and Lux Capital.
An AI startup focused on the food sector, Nory dropped seven places from last year, reaching 44th place on this year’s list. The startup with two offices in Dublin and London raised $37m last September, again to fuel expansion in the US. Nory has a two-year revenue CAGR of approximately 182pc.
While insurtech CleverCards fell 27 places to 54th on the 2026 list. Founded in 2019, CleverCards payment technology allows businesses and public sector organizations to create digital prepaid cards and send them to anyone. This service is launched to market in 2023.
Last year’s entrants, who were not ranked this year include e-SIM provider Holafly, VR simulation training provider VRAI, data company CitySwift, e-commerce financier Wayflyer, and AI copyright protection provider Ceartas.
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