AN investment syndicate dedicated to supporting women founders across Ireland was invited to share its story at the Irish Embassy in London.
Founded by a four-strong female team in 2023, AwakenAngels is the first and only women-led angel investment syndicate in operation across Ireland, which now boasts almost 100 angel investors.
It works in partnership with its sister enterprise AwakenHub, which launched in 2020 to provide support and interventions for women founding startup businesses and scaling up existing companies.
AwakenHub Co-founder Mary McKenna who hosted the panel discussion (Pics: Malcolm McNally Photography)The platforms share the same mission, to “have a social impact mission to remove barriers to investment, scale and success for and by Irish connected women at home and abroad”, their founders confirm.
AwakenHub team members and representatives of the 16 AwakenHub women founded companies who travelled to the event (Pics: Malcolm McNally Photography)On October 7 that mission was shared with a room full of guests at the Irish Embassy in Mayfair.
Hosted by Irish Ambassador to Britain, Martin Fraser, AwakenHub and AwakenAngels Co-founder Sinead Crowley addressed the crowds to explain their intention to “shift the dial for Irish women founders and investors creating equity in the founder eco-system across the island of Ireland”.
Tanya Suarez, Ronan Dunne, Emily Shanks and Niamh Dooley enjoying the event at the Irish Embassy in London“We don't believe in hurling from the ditch, we want to be the change that is needed so we took it upon ourselves to build the first women led angel investment syndicate investing in women founded startups on the island of Ireland,” Ms Crowley said.
Other speakers at the panel discussion event included Mary McKenna, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor who made history in 2023 as European Female Angel of the Year followed by first Irish person to win UKBAA overall Angel Investor of the Year in a 24-hour period.
Jo Joyce, Sheelagh Brady, Wendy Slattery, Lisa McLoughlin and Justina Ugwah (Pics: Malcolm McNally Photography)Ms McKenna described the AwakenAngels offering, which allows women and men to start investing from just £2k, as “groundbreaking” as it “democratises and opens up the world of angel investing to the many not just the few”.
