CORK, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 19, 2025--
Granite, Ireland’s largest independent digital specialist, today announces a $10 million investment in the business by investor BGF – Ireland and the UK’s most active growth capital investor. The funding will support Cork-headquartered Granite’s expansion strategy, including acquisitions and international scaling, with a particular focus on the US market.
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BGF’s investment signals a significant vote of confidence in Ireland’s digital sector and in Granite’s proven growth model. The deal marks BGF’s latest investment in scaling Irish tech-enabled businesses. As well as supporting business growth, the investment will enable Granite to continue to enhance its digital capabilities, with a strong focus on artificial intelligence (AI). Founded in Cork in 2008, Granite has built a strong reputation for delivering innovative enterprise level digital solutions to many of Ireland’s most prominent organizations. The company now operates across Cork, Dublin, Galway, Belfast, New York, and Dubai, with over 170 digital practitioners.
The investment is a catalyst for Granite to accelerate strategic acquisitions, significantly strengthen its enterprise service offering and deepen its presence in international markets. Granite has successfully completed eight acquisitions since 2020, accelerating revenue, capability and sector experience.
With a highly resilient business model built on long-term client partnerships, the company has consistently evolved to meet the growing complexity of modern digital experiences and the rising demand for transformation across all sectors.
Welcoming the investment, Joe Higgins, Investor at BGF, said, “Granite is a prime example of the kind of high-performing, founder-led business BGF looks to support. From its roots in Cork, the company has built a strong reputation for delivering digital excellence across Ireland and beyond. Our investment reflects our confidence in the team’s ability to scale internationally, and we’re excited to help unlock the next chapter of growth through strategic acquisitions and international expansion. As we continue to explore opportunities across Ireland’s thriving tech sector, Granite represents the kind of ambition and capability we’re keen to back.”
Conor Buckley, CEO of Granite and EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 finalist, added, “The $10 million investment from BGF is an immediate and substantial investment back into our client partnerships. We are both expanding our geographic footprint in the US and accelerating our knowledge. Scaling in high-growth, competitive markets like the US and the Middle East is a necessity to stay ahead. The investment empowers us to scale our digital innovation and AI platforms globally and deepen our commitment to our Irish clients by ensuring they remain at the forefront of digital transformation and retain their competitive digital advantage.”
Granite’s early success in the US market, highlighted by its shortlisting for Best Large Agency of the Year at the 2025 US Agency Awards, underscores its ability to compete on a global stage. Building on a strong track record of integrating acquisitions, Granite is positioned to scale effectively while preserving its Irish heritage and client focus. With BGF’s backing and sector expertise, the company will accelerate its global expansion and reinforce its leadership in delivering world-class digital services across all markets.
Granite has recently strengthened its executive board, appointing Joy Marcus as Non-Executive Chair. With extensive leadership experience across digital media and technology sectors, US-based Joy brings over 20 years of senior leadership experience. She has previously held executive roles at major organizations including Condé Nast, Time Warner, MTV Networks, Barnes & Noble and DailyMotion.
Her deep operational background, strong track record in scaling digital businesses, and investment expertise will provide Granite with strategic insight, governance strength, and a powerful US-based network to support its next phase of expansion.
Joy takes over from current chair Alf Smiddy who has held the position since Granite was founded. Alf’s leadership has helped get Granite to where it is today. The board would like to thank Alf for his many years of dedication.
Joy Marcus, incoming Non-Executive Chair, added, “I’m thrilled to join Granite at such an exciting stage in its growth, and to partner with BGF as we take the business to the next level. Granite has built an impressive reputation for digital innovation and client excellence, and now has a real opportunity to bring that expertise to a global audience. With strong leadership, deep technical capability, and BGF’s strategic backing, the company is exceptionally well-positioned to expand its presence in the US and beyond.”
Granite advisory was led by Ronan Murray, Peter Neville, John Slowey & Peter Twomey in EY Cork, and Kieran Regan & Ciara Flannery in Regan Wall. BGF was supported by Mark Mulcahy, Anthony Shiel, Gerry Vahey & Nicole Hanlon in Forvis Mazars, Shaun O’Shea, Deirdre Cahill & Rachel Leavy in Beauchamps, Joe Barnett in Rothschild & Co, and Ifan Dafydd, Rupert Cookson & Felix Gilliat-Smith in Armstrong TS.
The investment is subject to approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
L-R: BGF’s Joe Higgins, Granite’s Conor Buckley and Seamus White, BGF’s MJ Murphy and Granite’s Robert Carpenter
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rushing higher worldwide, and oil prices are easing Wednesday as hopes build that the war with Iran could end soon. That's even though some of the signals investors saw as hopeful are already under dispute, and several prior bouts of optimism in financial markets quickly got undercut by continued, fierce fighting in the war.
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% and added to its leap from the day before, which was its best since last spring. That followed even bigger gains for stock markets across Europe and Asia, including an 8.4% surge in South Korea, which were catching up to Wall Street’s rally from Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 357 points, or 0.8%, as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% higher.
Oil prices also fell back toward $100 per barrel after President Donald Trump claimed shortly before Wall Street began trading that Iran “has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!”
“We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”
Trump had also said the night before that the U.S. military could end its offensive in two to three weeks. That added to optimism following a couple tenuous signals of hope from earlier Tuesday that Wall Street latched onto, including a news report quoting Iran’s president as saying that it has “the necessary will to end the war” as long as certain requirements are met, including “guarantees to prevent a recurrence of aggression.”
The worry on Wall Street has been that the war may last a long time and keep oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf out of global markets, which could create a brutal blast of inflation.
But hope has been quick to reverse to doubt on Wall Street, triggering manic swings back and forth for financial markets since the war with Iran began. Trump has also made statements that lifted markets, only to see the gains quickly disappear after increasing his military threats against Iran. Investors say Trump’s statements are becoming less impactful for financial markets.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, called Trump’s claim about asking for a ceasefire “false and baseless,” according to a report on Iranian state television.
And oil prices remain high, even if they’ve eased so far this week. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, was sitting at $101.83 following its declines, which is still up from roughly $70 before the war began.
U.S. gasoline prices rose again overnight to a national average of $4.06 per gallon, according to the auto club AAA.
Iran, meanwhile, hit an oil tanker off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait’s airport on Wednesday while airstrikes battered Tehran as the fighting continued. Iran also continues to hold a grip on the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes during peacetime.
“De-escalation hopes have given markets a lift, but we think the effects of the war would, in many cases, persist even if the war did end soon,” Thomas Mathews, head of markets, Asia Pacific at Capital Economics, said in a research note Wednesday.
“It’s worth thinking through how markets might fare if the war were to end ‘very soon,’” he wrote. “Do markets have further to recover if sentiment continues to improve? The answer is almost certainly yes.”
The White House said Trump will deliver a public address Wednesday evening on the Iran war.
On Wall Street, the majority of stocks rose, with Big Tech powering the move higher. Gains of 2.5% for Alphabet and 1% for Nvidia were two of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.
They helped offset a 14.3% drop for Nike, which fell even though it reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. Analysts said it gave some lackluster financial forecasts.
Hasbro fell 3.8% after the toy company found someone had gained unauthorized access to its computer network and is working to assess the full impact.
In stock markets abroad, indexes leaped more than 1.5% in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Asian markets had even bigger gains.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 5.2% after a survey by Japan’s central bank showed business sentiment for major Japanese manufacturers improved despite worries about the Iran war.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report said U.S. retailers made more money in February than economists expected. A separate report said U.S. manufacturing growth last month was slightly faster than economists expected.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.31% from 4.30% late Tuesday.
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.
James Conti works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Philip Finale works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader reacts near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A screen displays financial information on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
