Dan Byrne

Dan is Co-Founder and Chairman of Lincor Inc.

He was a senior director of Apple Inc’s European Operations based in Paris, France before moving to California to become a worldwide Vice President for Apple Inc. After Apple, he was Vice President of European Operations for Digital Equipment Corporation’s Personal Computer Division. He co-founded Lincor Inc. a healthcare IT company with two ex-colleagues from Apple Computer where he remains as a Board member. He also acts as Chairman of a number of Irish technology companies.

Dan was a finalist in the 2010 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in recognition of his achievements in business.

He is a graduate of University College Cork holding a BE (Electrical Engineering).

Dan has specific interests in IT and Health.

Mary Byrne

Mary is the founder of Statistical Solutions Ltd.

She led the management buy-out of the Irish subsidiary of a Californian software company, BMDP Statistical Software Inc, to form Statistical Solutions Ltd (StatSols) in 1994. Statsols developed and supports acclaimed statistical analysis software nQuery that is now used by clients in over 100 countries.

She is a graduate of University College Cork holding a BComm.

Mary has specific expertise in building a software business.

Frank Hannigan

Frank is a Partner at Strategy Crowd.

He has extensive experience working with business owners and entrepreneurs to commercialise their innovative start-ups. In his role as Partner at StrategyCrowd (formerly Pathfinder Partners) and as Senior Adviser at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), he has advised and mentored and contributed at Board level to dozens of start-up and early-stage companies over many years. His start-up experience includes Inhance Technology (formerly YouGetItBack), Digiserve and Ireland OnLine.

Frank is a member of the Board of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTE), Ireland’s national television and radio broadcaster.

Frank holds a BA (Economics and Social Studies) from Trinity College Dublin.

His interests are in commercialisation, innovation and strategy.

Colum Horgan

Colum is Co-Founder and CEO of InverCloud and Co-Founder and Chairman of Aspira.

His early career was in the telecommunications sector culminating in a senior management role with Motorola in Cork. He co-founded specialist Project Management and Enterprise IT Solutions services organisation Aspira in 2007 following the closure of Motorola and went on to co-found InverCloud to develop a cloud service brokerage platform in 2011.

Colum is a Board member of Enterprise Ireland, the government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets.

He holds a BEng (Electrical and Electronics) from Heriot Watt University.

Colum is interested in mentoring graduate entrepreneurs.

Mark Hurley

Mark is Country Manager UK/Ireland at Chr Hansen A/S.

His early career was as Research Scientist at University College Cork and then Teagasc before joining Chr Hansen as Sales and Marketing Manager for dairy ingredients business in Ireland. He rose through a number of management roles before being appointed Country Manager for UK and Ireland in 2004.

Mark holds an MSc and BSc from University College Cork.

Mark’s primary expertise is in sales, marketing and business development in food and food ingredients industry.

Damien Kennedy

Damien is Co-Founder of WheyHey.

WheyHey is a sugar-free, high-protein ice cream that is now sold worldwide. Damien and business partner, Greg Duggan, developed the initial concept in 2012. They sought the advice of University College Cork’s Food Science Department to help with the process of scaling production.

The business was an early recipient of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Pioneer which helped develop market opportunities in the UK.

Damien holds a BSc (Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences) and a MSc (Human Performance and Sport Psychology) from Brunel University.

Damien’s expertise is in the development and marketing of consumer food and accessing international markets.

Aiden Lee

Aiden is Founder and Managing Director of Eolas International.

Aiden set up his first business in 1997 before founding Eolas International in 2002. The company provides market research, sensory research, lab research and consumer research services to a wide range of clients worldwide.

Aiden was a finalist in the 2010 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in recognition of his achievements in business.

Aiden holds a BSc (Food Chemistry) from University College Cork and an MSc (International Business) from Trinity College Dublin.

Aiden has interests in food sector and food product development.

Pat Lynch

Pat is a successful serial entrepreneur, business owner, angel investor and author. He is CEO at EviView, Finance Director at Compliance & Risks and sits on a number of Boards including those of Inhance Technology and Omnivend Systems.

He founded his first business Microtech Cleanroom Services in 1998 after leaving Seagate Technology where he was Finance Director.

Pat was a finalist in the 2018 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in recognition of his achievements in business.

Pat has an MBA from The Open University.

He has significant experience in fundraising and financial management.

John McCarthy

John’s early career was with EY before he joined SWS in 2000. As General Manager he was instrumental in the growth of the SWS Business Process Outsourcing business until SWS was acquired by Ian Equity in 2006.

He continues to consult with a range of companies and holds a number of Directorships including Farran Technology Ltd and AnaBio Technologies Ltd.

John holds an MComm from University College Cork and is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

John has significant experience in business planning and financial management.

Pat O’Flynn

Pat is a successful entrepreneur and business owner. He is Founder and CEO of Solvotrin Therapeutics Ltd, a healthcare and medicine development company, and previously Co-Founded and was CEO of AVR-Safeway Limited, a hazardous waste processing company that was acquired by Veolia Environmental Services in 2008, among other business interests.

Pat was a finalist in the 2008 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in recognition of his business achievements.

Pat is particularly interested in building scalable businesses.

Ross O'Dwyer

Ross is Co-Founder and CEO of sports media business Pundit Arena.

Ross met Pundit Arena Co-Founder, Richard Barrett, on IGNITE in 2013. They have gone on to develop Pundit Arena into an established sports media and digital broadcast business. Ross and Richard also founded One-Zero, one of Europe's fastest-growing sports business conferences.

Ross has advised and guided a number of start-ups as a member of Enterprise Ireland's Mentor Network.

He is a graduate of University College Cork holding a BComm.

Anne O’Leary

Anne is Chairman and CEO of Kinematik, a provider of software to help organizations operate more collaboratively and manage their data more efficiently. She had previously founded and managed Cadco, a business that was acquired by TechData in 2009.

Anne holds Directorships with a number of technology businesses.

Anne is a member of the Board of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTE), Ireland’s national television and radio broadcaster.

She holds a BE (Civil Engineering) and a MEngSc from University College Cork.

Anne’s expertise is in the development and growth of IT businesses.

Dave Ronayne

Dave is Chairman and CEO of Irish Mainport Holdings, a provider of support vessels and managed services to the specialist marine industry.

Dave was a finalist in the 2007 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in recognition of his achievements in business.

He holds a BComm from University College Cork.