Full coverage: E-commerce

Sligo-born Deirdre McGettrick swapped a corporate finance career to found Ufurnish, the UK's largest furniture comparison site. She talks to The Currency about purposefully bringing female investors on board and shifting the business plan through a turbulent market.

The same-day grocery delivery start-up has raised €18m from backers. However, with the company impacted by the ending of pandemic restrictions and the cost-of-living crisis, it is set to be acquired by Dunnes Stores for a relatively small sum.

Instead of raising more funds, Content Llama is set to close down by the end of this year. The technology provider to outdoor retailers failed to "turn the ship", its co-founder and chief executive Karina Kelly told investors.

Thriftify has opened the online shopping market to charity shops. Two years after joining its founding team, Emily Beere discusses tripling sales every month during Covid-19 lockdowns, raising venture capital, and moving to London to conquer the UK.

Ciara Sheahan had a steady career in real estate, but while looking for ways to set her property franchise apart, she stumbled across a technology that led her to co-found Orb Media, Ireland's only 360 experience company. She talks about the ups and downs of her career, what she learned along the way, and being a woman in business.

Increasingly conscious Irish consumers have attracted Vienna-based Refurbed here, but Brexit also had a role to play, according to its CEO and co-founder Kilian Kaminski.

Deirdre McGettrick thought her past life working in banking would eventually lead her to a CFO or CEO role, but she never expected to create her own business. Her love of interior design made her re-think this career path and she now runs the UK’s largest home furnishing and comparison website, Ufurnish.com.