In 2026, the old boys’ club of Irish angel investing is being dismantled by a new wave of female operators. Dublin’s startup ecosystem has evolved from a government-grant-dependent market into a sophisticated private capital machine. A major driver of this shift is the rise of female smart capital.
These women bring operational scars from scaling global tech giants and the green jersey mentality of paying it forward. If you are raising a seed round in Dublin, these are the names that signal validation to the rest of the market.
1. Faye Walsh Drouillard
As the founder of WakeUp Capital, Faye Walsh Drouillard pioneered the concept of impact investing in Ireland. She manages Ireland’s first dedicated impact VC fund, operating with a high-conviction thesis that the next generation of unicorns will be sustainability-driven. She brings deep expertise in social innovation, helping founders measure their impact metrics (ESG) as rigorously as their financial ones. With a portfolio that includes sustainable innovators, her presence on a cap table signals to later-stage VCs that a company is built on solid ethical foundations, making her the primary ally for climate-tech founders in Dublin.
2. Mary McKenna (MBE)
Mary McKenna is a serial entrepreneur turned angel investor who co-founded AwakenHub, a community that has revolutionised female-led investing in Ireland. She famously co-founded Learning Pool, an e-learning giant she scaled and exited successfully, giving her the capital and credibility to back the next generation. Now an MBE for her services to digital technology, she focuses on early-stage tech startups with global ambition. Her investment strategy is community-led, often syndicating deals to bring more women onto the cap table, effectively changing the gender balance of Irish startup ownership one deal at a time.
3. Elaine Coughlan
Elaine Coughlan sits at the very top of the Irish tech food chain. As a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Atlantic Bridge, she oversees a platform managing over €1 billion in assets. Her background is legendary, as she was a key executive at Iona Technologies, Ireland’s first major tech IPO on NASDAQ and GloNav. She understands the path from a Dublin garage to a US IPO better than almost anyone. While she manages institutional capital, her influence is akin to that of a super angel. She mentors founders specifically on how to structure their companies for US expansion, serving as a passport to Silicon Valley for Irish deep-tech companies.
4. Niamh Sterling
Niamh Sterling strikes a perfect balance between the roles of founder and investor. As the founder of Recipe Guru, she understands the grind, but as an Investment Consultant for the Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN), she wields significant structural power. She has been instrumental in professionalising how syndicates operate in Ireland, helping to deploy millions in smart capital. She favours companies with strong underlying unit economics and scalable B2B models, often stepping in to professionalise the fundraising process for first-time founders to ensure they are investor-ready before facing the wider market.
5. Áine Denn
Áine Denn is the blueprint for B2B software success in Ireland. She co-founded Altify, a sales transformation platform that Upland Software acquired for $84 million. Today, she invests that exit capital and expertise into complex B2B technology platforms. Founders pitched her not just for money, but for her go-to-market strategy, specifically her knowledge on how to sell high-value enterprise software to US corporations from a Dublin base. She acts as a strategic advisor, helping technical teams transition into sales-led organisations that can close six-figure deals.
6. Debbie Rennick
As a General Partner at Act Venture Capital, Debbie Rennick helps manage one of Ireland’s longest-standing and most successful firms, which has raised over €600 million across multiple funds. She has been pivotal in backing category-defining companies, such as Cubic Telecom and Rippl. While she operates a major fund, her engagement with early-stage founders is hands-on and transformative. She has a keen eye for platform-based technologies. She pushes founders to think about international dominance from day one, often leveraging Act’s massive network to secure key hires and partnerships.
7. Sonia Flynn
Sonia Flynn brings the Big Tech grounding to the local angel scene. With a resume that includes leadership roles as MD of Facebook Ireland, VP at SoundCloud, and Director at Google, she has an intimate understanding of the hyper-growth culture. She currently sits on the board of AIB (Allied Irish Banks), bridging the gap between traditional finance and tech. As an investor, she focuses on the people infrastructure of startups such as how to hire, how to build culture remotely, and how to scale operations without breaking. For consumer-facing tech and media startups in Dublin, her operational advice is gold.
8. Gillian Roche
Gillian Roche acts as a strategic navigator for emerging consumer brands. With decades of C-suite experience in major retail environments, including Boots and Holland & Barrett, she has a deep understanding of both high-street and digital retail. She tends to back founders who are disrupting traditional industries with digital-first models. Her investment style is highly collaborative, and she often takes board seats or advisory roles to help steer the strategic direction of the company, particularly assisting technical founders to navigate the complexities of supply chains, procurement, and brand building.
9. Lorna Conn
Lorna Conn operates as the ultimate corporate bridge. As the CEO of Cpl, which was acquired for €318 million and a board member at Ryanair, she sits at the nexus of talent, enterprise, and large-scale operations. She invests in startups that are reshaping the future of work and enterprise efficiency. Her backing is robust because she brings the perspective of an FTSE 250 buyer, she knows precisely what large corporates are looking for when they buy software. She helps startups secure their first major pilots and understand the procurement processes of large multinational clients.
10. Dr Helen McBreen
Dr Helen McBreen is the primary gateway for university spin-outs in Ireland. As a partner at Atlantic Bridge, she leads the University Bridge Fund, a €60 million initiative dedicated to commercialising research. She is the bridge between Ireland’s academic labs and the commercial world, investing in robotics, AI, and medical devices. For scientist-founders at Trinity or UCD, she offers the patient capital and guidance needed to turn a patent into a company. Her portfolio includes cutting-edge deep tech firms, such as Equal1 (quantum computing), which demonstrates her appetite for complex, world-changing science.