Search
07 Nov 2025
Search
07 Nov 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Clare McGee, AwakenHub cofounder and CEO
AwakenHub, the only all-island community dedicated to backing and supporting women founders, has been shortlisted in three categories at the Social Enterprise NI Awards 2025.
Headquartered in Derry, the shortlisting recognises AwakenHub’s growing impact and leadership across Ireland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Since launching in 2020, AwakenHub has built an active community of over 3,500 women founders, supported hundreds of women-led businesses through its programmes, and helped drive a wave of first-time investors into businesses founded by women through the creation of its own investment syndicate, AwakenAngels.
Formed in 2023, it is the first and only women-led investment syndicate across the island of Ireland, having doubled its membership in the last 12 months to 118 members and helped its eight portfolio companies to raise over £4M.
The Social Enterprise NI Awards take place tonight (Friday, November 7) and celebrate the best of Northern Ireland’s social enterprise sector, recognising innovation, impact, and leadership. AwakenHub is shortlisted for:
The shortlisting follows a milestone week for AwakenHub in which, along with its sister organisation AwakenAngels, it returned from their first trade mission to San Francisco, building on previous successful missions to Boston and New York. The organisation also launched its latest joint impact report, Breaking Barriers. Backing Women. Building Businesses with AwakenAngels.
The report highlights how both organisations are transforming the landscape for women investors and founders across the island of Ireland.
Speaking ahead of the Social Enterprise NI Awards, Clare McGee, AwakenHub cofounder and CEO, said: “This is another proud week for the AwakenHub community. To be recognised across three categories in these competitive awards reflects the passion and commitment of the incredible women, and our male allies, who make AwakenHub what it is.
View this post on Instagram
"Our mission has always been to remove barriers for women founders and create a fairer, more inclusive investment ecosystem throughout the island. To be shortlisted highlights the very real, positive impacts, socially and entrepreneurially, that the collective efforts and belief of our team, partners, and AwakenHub community have made across the entire island of Ireland.
"To stand alongside so many inspiring social enterprises, all of them making a difference across Northern Ireland, is a real honour.”
Further information on AwakenHub and how to join the community can be found online at www.awakenhub.com.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
