Tech Operators

Great news from Jentic. Congratulations to Sean and the team.

Charlie Taylor of the Sunday Business Post spoke with Maria McMenamin about why Tech Operators was founded. They discussed the massive opportunity to unlock the technology expertise in international companies to help grow our indigenous technology sector. We built the network with diversity at its core, from the selection of our members to our active support for female founders. We would love to hear from you if you are building a technology business in Ireland. https://lnkd.in/ewpzJHMS

Thank you, Charlie Taylor and the Business Post, for including Tech Operators in the next edition of Connected. We look forward to unlocking more senior technology advisors and mentors to help Irish founders build and succeed.

Delighted to have John bring his experience to the network and help support Irish founders

Great to see so many members in person for the Tech Operators AGM which was held at Dogpatch Labs last Friday. During 2024, which was our first full year in operation, 14 startups pitched our membership for investment with members deciding to back 6 different companies. Needi, ApplyOn, MoveAhead, Roamr, Jentic and MARC raised a combined total of €341,000 from Tech Operators members. In line with our mission to encourage more diversity in the Irish ecosystem, 6 of the 14 companies who pitched had female founders. We also held 5 Meitheal events during the year, where startups can avail of advice, insights and introductions from our members, to help them tackle a particular challenge they are facing. The startups who participated all rated the workshops highly with all of them scoring them 8-10 out of 10. Feedback from founders included: - “Empowering, insightful and the discussions and confidence I needed to make some important business decisions”  - “There was a diverse range of skillsets and experience at the meeting that gave us new perspectives on the two challenges we presented”  - “Really helpful - we got a lot of insights that helped us to shape our GTM & pricing insights.” - “In my specific case, it was the tactical suggestions I've been given by the people involved in the call. Strategy-wise I knew what I had to do, but getting tactical advice from people that did whatever I was trying was/is really helpful.” If you’re an early stage founder (pre-seed or seed) and want to pitch to our members or think you could benefit from a Meitheal session, head over to our website for details on how to apply. We’ve got lots of plans for 2025 so that our members can continue to give back and support Irish startups, including deepening our partnership with Fierce, the network for female founders, and raising our public profile so that more founders can avail of our support. Watch this space. 

We are excited to welcome John Collins and Martin Kelly to the Tech Operators Board! Tech Operators proudly introduces two new board members: Martin Kelly and John Collins. They will join Maria McMenamin and Fionnuala Meehan. John, a seasoned marketing consultant, advisor, and angel investor, has extensive experience in content, communications, events, and community building, particularly in the B2B sector. He was previously Director of Content at Intercom, where he established the content marketing function and helped build the brand, and Head of Content and Communications at Ramp, a New York fintech company.  John will spearhead our external communications strategy. His expertise in establishing content marketing functions and enhancing brand visibility is a valuable addition to our team. Martin began his career as a software engineer at the Bank of Ireland and has since held key technical and commercial positions at Heinz UK and Masterfoods Europe. He has accumulated over 25 years of enterprise B2B sales experience. Noteworthy is his leadership in establishing IBM Ventures in EMEA and subsequently founding HealthXL®, a leading global digital health platform acquired by HLTH. Martin is dedicated to supporting founders and funds in the US, focusing on sales strategies, company growth, and market penetration. His passion for fostering company cultures and addressing significant challenges aligns with his new responsibility of overseeing member engagement at Tech Operators. A warm welcome to John and Martin as they bring their expertise and vision to our board! #TechOperators #BoardMembers #Welcome

Tech Operators is immensely grateful to Mark Peters and GURO BAKKENG BERGAN for their invaluable contributions as founding members of our board. Mark and Guro played pivotal roles in establishing and nurturing Tech Operators, working closely with Fionnuala Meehan and Maria McMenamin from the outset. Their collaborative efforts were instrumental in shaping our strategy, orchestrating initial pitch meetings, and providing invaluable guidance to our founders. Our organization, known for its dynamism, has curated a diverse and talented team that has supported seven promising Irish startups and facilitated eleven roundtable advisory sessions. Mark Peters, a co-founder of impact VC WakeUp Capital, recently successfully concluded the inaugural fund round with strong support from the European Investment Fund, Irish Strategic Investment Fund, and Enterprise Ireland. Mark's rich experience spans founding Saas companies, investing in startups, mentoring, leading product development, serving on boards, and operating as a fractional COO. Guro, an accomplished international SAAS leader, angel investor, and advisor, notably led key teams at FiveTran in EMEA. Though stepping down from the board, Guro continues to be an active member of our network and a vital part of Tech Operators' founding team. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mark and Guro for their unwavering dedication and expertise, which have been instrumental in our success. Thank you!

What is a Meitheal Meeting? Meitheal is the Irish word for a working gang and denotes the cooperative labour system in Ireland. Groups of neighbours helped each other with farming work, such as harvesting crops. Neighbours who gave their work to others were, in turn, helped with their own heavy seasonal tasks. Core to a Meitheal is community unity through cooperative work and mutually reciprocal support.  We chose Meitheal as the word that best describes the Tech Operator advice meetings. The word reflects the community spirit that the members bring to the meeting. All members give their time freely to help Indigenous Irish technology companies to scale. We host two founders every quarter to brainstorm on a particular challenge they are working on. Tech Operator members come from a range of expertise, so the founder gets a view of the challenge from a diverse range of perspectives. Our first Meitheal Meeting was held at Wayflyer the 23rd of November. The companies were Kota and SkillsTrust. The founders' feedback on the impact of the one-hour Meitheal meeting and the follow-up connections has been outstanding, so we plan to host four more Meitheal meetings in 2025. Watch this space for an update!

Tech Operators is a network of experienced industry executives and founders who advise, connect and invest in ambitious Irish startups to help them accelerate their international growth.