Mulryan and ebikes, Fed’s rate rise, and how to protect your online privacy

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Irish-founded electric bike maker Modmo has secured a €5 million investment from property developer Sean Mulryan. The financing brings to €8.7 million the total raised by the company over the past year. Charlie Taylor has the details.

Consumer sentiment lifted in January as concerns about the severity and duration of the pandemic eased, according to the latest KBC Bank Ireland analysis. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

The Federal Reserve signalled its intention to raise interest rates in March, the first increase since 2018, underscoring the US central bank's abrupt pivot to fighting rampant inflation as opposed to shielding the US economy from the pandemic, writes the FT's Colby Smith.

Trinity College's Science Gallery needs some fresh thinking and an injection of cash from the Government. But Cantillon wonders why the university has been asked to frame a new vision for the gallery, given that it decided only three months ago that it has no future.

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Now that it has left the EU, the UK is planning to create a world-leading data regime that "unleashes the power of data across the economy and society". Bold claims but if it cannot meet EU standards, it will become a global data pariah, writes our columnist Karlin Lillington.

Worried about your online privacy? A good VPN or virtual private network is your best bet, according to Ciara O'Brien in our tech feature.

Our New Innovators are Dr Kate Reddington and Dr Thomas Barry, the founders of BioProbe Diagnostics, which has developed a fast and highly sensitive testing kit for the detection of the bacteria that cause potentially fatal Legionnaire's disease. Olive Keogh tells their story.

In our tech review, the JBuds Frames might be a clever twist on smart glasses but Ciara O'Brien found them bulky and uncomfortable.

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Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock is Business Editor of The Irish Times