What is the Difference between Northern Irish tech companies?

Category: Blog

By Janice

28/03/2023

We take a look at the difference between the NI tech companies less than 5 years old and those 5 years and upwards.

Recently, Company Connecting conducted research on tech companies in Northern Ireland and found a thriving tech sector with a significant number of younger companies. Building on this information, we further analyzed our data and compared the skills, sectors, size, and focus of these companies. The results are presented in the infographic below.

More Infographics

Differences in Size

The comparison revealed some interesting differences. Not surprisingly, a higher percentage of younger companies have only one person. However, we did find that there is a company less than 5 years old with between 200 and 500 employees.

Differences in Skills

As in our previous research, software development dominates the skills category across all ages of companies. However, younger companies have a higher percentage of skills in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, while more established companies have a higher percentage of skills in IT managed support, networking solutions, and Office 365.

To explore the differences, toggle between the two tabs in the infographic.

Location - Belfast and beyond

We found no significant differences in the ages of tech companies across Northern Ireland. Although Belfast is the primary hub of Northern Ireland's tech industry, there are also many exciting tech companies and startups located outside of the city. The Northern Irish government has been investing in infrastructure, training, and startup support programs in towns and cities throughout the region to encourage the growth of the tech sector.

Emerging tech hubs outside of Belfast include Derry/Londonderry, Newry, and Armagh, where local councils and business support organizations are working to attract new tech companies and foster innovation. For example, Derry/Londonderry has established the City of Derry Business Growth Programme, which offers support and funding for startups and small businesses in the tech sector. Similarly, the Southern Regional College in Newry has launched a new course in software development to help train and develop the region's tech talent.

Technology Companies in Scotland

We have added all the Scottish companies registered up to December 2021. We will start to take a look at the 2022 companies shortly . There are 2,688 active Scottish technology companies with a website and a further 862 companies that have been dissolved in the past seven years. We will continue to review and update the companies on our database.

Company Connecting research

Company Connecting has over 6,000 tech companies on its database of which 2,688 are based in Scotland, a further 648 are in Ireland, the remainder are in England, Estonia and a few other countries. In 2023 we will take a look at technology in Wales.

Technology Companies Database

We have the most detailed database of Scottish and Northern Irish Tech companies. We want to promote Scottish tech and allow companies to find each other as we see collaboration between business as one of the most important areas for any company. If you would like more information please contact us via e-mail on support@companyconnecting.com