Far from its industrial roots as ‘linenopolis’, Belfast has built quite the reputation as a tech tub.

The city is home to a number of firms gracing the fastest-growing tech business lists. In fact, according to the Hub-In Project, Belfast is the second-fastest growing knowledge economy in the UK. It’s hardly surprising when you’ve got a skilled workforce coming from the likes of Queen’s University and Ulster University.

Easy transport links such as Belfast City Airport and Belfast Port mean that over 1100 international companies have a presence in Northern Ireland, too – many of them placed in Belfast.

Businesses often struggle without support. In this part of the world, there’s plenty of it, with ample funding and grant opportunities through Belfast City Council and Invest Northern Ireland alongside funding from private organisations and universities.

But work-life balance is key for any business owner. Belfast has a slower pace of life than other major UK cities while maintaining a lively cultural scene, a lower cost of living and all around great craic. What’s more, it’s a doddle to get around on foot, bike and public transport.

To get you inspired, here are nine of the most exciting businesses based in the Northern Ireland powerhouse.

Cloudsmith

As its name hints at, Cloudsmith is a cloud-native artifact management platform to protect your software supply chain.

Founded in 2016, Cloudsmith has raised $55m (£41 million) backed by the likes of TCV and Insight Partners. The company has achieved 100 per cent + annual year-on-year growth.

Datactics

Datactics specialises in business user focused data quality and matching technology, leaving clients with clean and useful data. According to Tracxn, has raised a total of $6.32 million (£4.5 million) over seven funding rounds.

B-Secur

B0Secur is a biosensing technology business, known for its HeartKey Rhythm for cardiac monitoring. Pitchbook states that the company, founded back in 2002, has raised $54.9 million (£3.3 million) over time. Backers include the British Business Bank and First Capital Ventures.

Neurovalens

Neurovalens has created non-invasive medical devices which work by neurostimulation to treat insomnia and other health concerns. Designed by neuroscientists, the company was founded in 2013, with the first product launching on Indiegogo in 2017. Neurovalens has raised millions of pounds from IQ Capital, Angel Co Fund, British Business Bank and more.

Axial3D

Axial3D aims to deliver patient-specific 3D solutions and transform DICOM images into 3D data through machine learning and AI. It was founded in 2014. At the end of 2024, Axial3D raised $18.2 million (£13.4 million), with continued support from techstart and Innovation Ulster.

Budibase Ltd

Budibase is an open-source workflow programme that builds tools and platforms and automates workflows. It launched in 2019 and has secured $9.9 million (£7.3 million) in investment from SignalFire, Angular Ventures and techstart.

Angoka

Established in 2019, Angoka ensures safe communication between devices while protecting communications between devices.

The company raised $2.74 million (£2.4 million) in two rounds from 34 investors, with an additional $2.08 million from Advanced Propulsion Centre UK.

Sonrai

Sonrai works with precision medicine, leading to novel therapies and biomarkers. Launched in 2018 the company has raised $88 million (£66 million) and, as a result, has expanded to other parts of the world. The next stop being the Middle East.

Weev

Founders Dominic Kearns and Thomas o’ Hagan launched Weev in 2022 to tackle the lack of EV chargers across Ireland. They’ve received a cool £50 million backing from Octopus Investments.

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