Scaling into 2025: Platform94 Business Leaders reveal International Scaling Outlook
NEWS PUBLICATION - 16 January 2025
As our scaling business community gear up for a transformative year, the ‘2025 Scaling Business Leaders Outlook Survey’ conducted this month by Platform94, offers compelling insights into the challenges, opportunities, and aspirations of companies throughout the West and Northwest region. The survey, completed by the substantial majority of businesses within our SCALE by Platform94 community, represents a diverse range of sectors, including AI, Cybersecurity, MedTech, AgTech, Tech Consulting, SaaS, Space Technology, and more. The key highlights are outlined as follows.
Forging Growth in 2025
The community’s outlook for 2025 is overwhelmingly optimistic. With an average forecasted Revenue growth of 68%, businesses are targeting ambitious expansion, primarily focusing on the domestic Irish market, the UK and the US. Marie Donnellan, CEO of Platform94 said “This level of growth ambition showcases the drive and resilience of scaling businesses in our region. It’s a testament to how regional companies are poised to significantly boost Export GVA, reinforcing the region’s role as a major player in international innovation.”
Businesses plan to increase headcount by an average of 55%, with the highest skills requirements being in Sales, Marketing, and Project Management, outpacing technical development positions. According to Donnellan “This shift highlights the growing need for strong, traditional skill sets that have the ability to leverage technology trends to drive commercial and operational success”.
Talent acquisition and retention remains a critical challenge for 2025, as illustrated below. “The availability of skilled talent will ultimately define the trajectory of scaling businesses, making it crucial to connect skilled talent pools with these unique high growth opportunities” said Donnellan.
Tackling Growth Hurdles
The survey identified three critical challenges in close order for our scaling businesses which were ‘Rising operational costs’, Brand impact and awareness’ and ‘Talent acquisition & retention’. An anonymous respondent noted ‘There are lots of great opportunities to scale and maintain growth momentum but they are being significantly hampered by the lack of skilled talent available at a reasonable wage level’.
Donnellan added “Rising costs, brand impact, and talent have emerged as the key challenges for scaling businesses. These issues highlight the complexities of growing in a competitive global landscape, where balancing efficiency, visibility, and access to top talent is more critical than ever.”
Overcoming Barriers to Scaling Success
The SCALE by Platform94 community members identified ‘Access to local market insights and networks’ as the key barrier to international scaling, alongside ‘Cost of new market entry’. These were closely followed by ‘Access to overseas talent’ and ‘Scaling operational capacity’. Donnellan noted “Understanding foreign markets is essential for success. Our community are looking for strong local partnerships that provide access to talent pools, market insights, and on-the-ground networks to streamline market entry. Entering new markets demands significant investment, making it vital to collaborate within the community, share resources, and pursue efficient, waste-free scaling strategies.”
Harnessing Innovation for Growth
Our community continue to prioritise technology investments and advancements. 25% is the average percentage of total budget allocated to technology investments /advancements in 2025.
With regard to which technology trends our companies believe will most impact their business in 2025, AI and Machine Learning was a strong front runner with 80% of respondents expecting it to have a ‘Medium-High’ impact. In contrast, only 6% foresee significant impact from Blockchain and Decentralised Technologies.
John Clancy, Founder and CEO of Galvia noted “Our outlook for 2025 is overwhelmingly positive. Ireland has the potential to become an AI superpower but we need to combine Europe’s regulatory wisdom with America’s appetite for innovation. The challenge for 2025 is not just to keep pace, but to set the standard for how AI can be both secure and groundbreaking.”
Leveraging Trends
Companies plan to leverage the above technology trends primarily for ‘Product/Service Innovation’ - 88%, ‘Operational Efficiency’ - 84% and ‘Enhancing Customer Insights/Experiences’ - 81%. “With advancements in AI, renewable energy, and digital transformation, 2025 offers unprecedented growth opportunities for tech businesses in the west of Ireland, driven by innovation, talent, and a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.” noted Michelle Mead, CEO of Mead Media Limited.
In relation to leveraging trends, Donnellan added, “We’ve seen a lot of sensationalism in recent years surrounding the impact of technology advancements, particularly with regard to displacement. What’s clear from these results is that our community see these advancing trends as high enablers to driving innovation, increasing operational efficiency, and enhancing decision-making and conumer insights - all of which are critical for scaling success.”
The Shifting Global Landscape
The key external factors identified in the survey—Talent Shortages, Changing Consumer Demands, and Increased Global Competition—are consistent with global business challenges. According to Donnellan, “There is certainly a high level of media hype around recent elections and the impact on Irish trade. However the key considerations noted in the survey are the enduring global business challenges in relation to talent, consumer behaviour and increased competition and we remain committed to navigating them alongside our community.”
Uniting Regional Strengths
One of the most encouraging findings of the survey was that 67% of respondents see the West & Northwest region of Ireland evolving into a stronger hub for technology innovation in 2025. Donnellan noted, “I fully believe that the opportunities in this region far outweigh the challenges. These results highlight the unique strengths and exciting potential of our SCALE by Platform94 community as part of a broader thriving regional ecosystem.”
The importance of collaboration, networking, and mentorship in fostering growth was a recurring theme. Evelyn O’Toole, Founder & CEO of CLS and SCALE by Platform94 advisor, emphasised the opportunity to “ignite the potential for our next generation of innovations and win business together through collaboration and partnerships.”
By bringing together businesses, mentors, corporate partners and regional stakeholders, SCALE by Platform94 continues to strengthen the region’s ability to ignite collaboration, foster innovation and maximise operational efficiencies whilst driving international growth. To learn more about joining the special thriving community, visit www.platform94.com/scale.