Irish Women Founders Take Centre Stage in New York
Some moments still make us pause and take it in. Standing with our founder delegation inside the British Consul General’s private residence overlooking Manhattan was one of them.
As AwakenHub and AwakenAngels concluded our fourth U.S. Trade Mission, our women founders once again stepped forward to pitch to a room filled with investors, venture capital partners, corporate collaborators and diaspora allies committed to backing ambitious companies from the island of Ireland.
Preparation is at the core of how we support founders. While several delivered formal pitches, the entire delegation worked the room, building relationships, facilitating introductions and laying foundations for deals, partnerships and market entry opportunities that will unfold over the coming months.
A Week of Momentum: Building Capital, Networks and Global Opportunity
The trade mission New York leg unfolded through a series of high-impact engagements designed to accelerate both founders and investors.
British Consulate New York – Founder Investor Pitch Showcase
Our delegation opened the New York programme by pitching to a curated audience of investors and commercial partners, demonstrating the depth, readiness and global ambition of Ireland’s female-led companies.
Bank of Ireland NYC Hub – Capital with Impact: Backing Irish Women Building Scalable Companies
This flagship panel event at the Bank of Ireland NYC Hub with Digital Irish co-hosting our “Capital with Impact” panel Denise McQuaid, Emma Meehan, Mary Blake, Jack Butler and Mary Ann Pierce explored the commercial case for investing in women-led innovation.
The discussion reinforced a powerful reality: women-founded businesses consistently deliver strong commercial performance yet remain one of the most undervalued asset classes globally.
Speakers highlighted:
Women-led companies demonstrate strong governance, sustainable growth strategies and high-quality returns.
A generational transfer of wealth is creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape who holds and deploys capital and women founders can also undertake their own investor journey both to give back, broaden their financial portfolio and gain valuable insight into the psyche of an investor as they go on their own fundraising journey.
Irish women founders are distinguished by preparation, resilience and global ambition from day one.
The network effect of female angel investors is driving both capital and critical market access.
AwakenAngels continues to build this infrastructure through investor education and deployment:
135+ women trained as angel investors
£4.5M+ invested across 8 portfolio companies
118 active investors (90% women)
CPD-accredited Angel Investing Academy now scaling internationally
This is not about advocacy alone. It is about economic competitiveness and unlocking measurable return on investment through diverse innovation.
Irish Consulate New York – First Friday Closing Event
The mission concluded at the Consulate General of Ireland’s First Friday gathering, bringing together our 20-strong delegation with diaspora leaders, investors and corporate stakeholders. The event marked both a celebration of progress and the strengthening of long-term transatlantic relationships that continue to fuel opportunity for founders.
Why This Work Matters
Investment into women-founded businesses remains disproportionately low, as does the number of female angel investors across Ireland and globally. Trade missions like this do more than open doors, they build trusted pathways between founders, capital and international markets.
Two years after launching AwakenAngels, we are seeing tangible outcomes through capital raised, companies scaling internationally and a rapidly growing pipeline of women investors backing the next generation of innovation.
What Comes Next
Planning is already underway for future international missions as demand from founders and investors continues to grow.
If you are a female founder looking to scale globally, you can join our private AwakenClub community.
If you are interested in investing in high-potential women-led companies, AwakenAngels welcomes new investors ready to help shape the future economy.
Because when women founders scale, economies scale and the world will change for the better.
Our sincere thanks to Government of Ireland, Emigrant support programme, Invest Northern Ireland, British Consulate-General Boston, British Consulate-New York, Consulate General of Ireland Boston, Consulate General of Ireland New York, Babson College, NI Bureau, Bank Of Ireland NYC Hub and Digital Irish for championing access to these global networks and recognising the scale of talent emerging from Ireland’s female founder ecosystem.
