Access to funding remains the biggest concern for Irish founders and CEOs according to a new survey from Scale Ireland, a representative body for Irish tech start-ups and scale-up companies.
The research found that 74.6% of respondents believe that attracting private capital is either "difficult" or "very difficult".
Three quarters of those surveyed would like to see some level of pension fund savings invested in indigenous companies.
209 founders and CEOs of tech companies contributed to the survey.
It also found that nearly all Irish start-ups are harnessing the potential of AI with 94.2% of founders deploying or preparing to deploy AI.
More than 35% of respondents said they are not aware of the EU's new AI Act, and more than 36% said they don’t know what impact it will have on their business
Two-thirds of start-up leaders said they feel Ireland needs to do more to support Irish companies to become global leaders while just over 30% saying they are confident or very confident Ireland is on the right track.
"While funding remains the biggest issue for start-ups and scaling companies, there are also considerable and persistent problems with enterprise supports," said CEO of Scale Ireland, Martina Fitzgerald.
"We need to ensure supports are being set up to promote use and not solely to prevent abuse."
"Our survey also shows there is a significant lack of awareness about the EU’s new AI Act and how it will impact Irish start-ups - this needs to be addressed urgently," Ms Fitzgerald said.
The survey results are being released to coincide with Scale's Regional Start-up Summit which takes place in Cork today.
The event is due to be addressed by Taoiseach, Micheál Martin and EU Commissioner Michael McGrath.
