Minister Matthew Patrick backs women business leaders in Derry

PICTURED ABOVE: Matthew Patrick MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office, met women founders and angel investors from AwakenAngels on Tuesday (10 March) to discuss women-led entrepreneurship and investment in Northern Ireland. Pictured - Back Row (L to R): Leanne Monk-Özgul, Hard Yards; Lynette Fay, Angel Investor; Jennifer Osadolor, AwakenAngels; Niamh Sweeney, AwakenAngels; Mary Blake, SeeMe Ltd. Front Row (L to R) Mary O'Dwyer, Angel Investor; Gillian McColgan, AwakenAngels Advisory Board; Maria McKeever, AwakenAngels; Minister Matthew Patrick, MP; Denise McQuaid, AwakenAngels and Clare Ryan, Founder, ITUS Secure Technologies. (Photo: Lorcan Doherty)

Matthew Patrick, MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office, met with women founders and angel investors from AwakenAngels this week (Tuesday, March 10) to discuss the current landscape for women-led entrepreneurship and investment across Northern Ireland.

Founded in 2020, AwakenHub is the only all-island community for women business founders across the island of Ireland. In 2023, it launched AwakenAngels, the first and only women-led investment syndicate and community across the island of Ireland.

The roundtable at Derry's Ebrington Hotel brought together women founders and angel investors from both communities to share insights on what works best and what is needed regarding programmes supporting women-led businesses and women investors, as well as the barriers that remain, including access to early-stage capital, scaling opportunities, and representation within the investment ecosystem.

During the discussion, Denise McQuaid, Cofounder and Director of Investor Relations with AwakenAngels, highlighted Northern Ireland’s emerging pipeline of high-growth women-led companies and the growth being experienced by the AwakenAngels syndicate, which now has 145 members, 90% of whom are women.

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The Minister also heard the group outline key policy priorities they would like to see implemented by the Government, including improved access to capital for women founders, increased funding for education on angel investing as an asset class for women, support for regional innovation, and ensuring that women’s voices are represented in economic policymaking.