Major names seek out Irish Semiconductor innovators
Semiconductor Innovators
Irish companies come to the attention of some of the industry’s biggest names. Oculus, the virtual reality company that itself was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion, identified valuable technology at InfiniLED, the university spin-out from Tyndall National Institute and University College Cork. The Irish company develops a range of LED light-source modules based on its patented µLED (microLED) technology, which it licensed from Tyndall.
MasterCard acquired the Irish payments company Orbiscom in 2009 and Garry Lyons, the latter company’s CEO, became MasterCard’s Chief Innovation Officer, working from the Dublin office which is also the global headquarters for MasterCard Labs, the company’s R&D function tasked with fast-tracking innovative products and services.
Major semiconductor names like Intel and Arm have both snapped up innovative Irish start-ups, while the US telecommunications giant Verizon was involved in one of the biggest Irish exits when it acquired Fleetmatics for $2.4 billion in 2016.
Cybersecurity has proven to be another fruitful hunting ground for international investors. In summer 2025, the Romanian cybersecurity firm BitDefender announced it would acquire Mesh Security, which provides email security for managed service provider companies that provide IT services to other businesses.
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