Meet the
Judges

General Partner at Delta Partners, Ireland's leading venture capital firm with a three-decade track record of backing visionary founders. At Delta, Amy leads investments in early-stage companies spanning diverse sectors, championing entrepreneurs who are shaping the future and building high-impact businesses. She serves on several startup boards and is a vocal advocate for a more inclusive tech ecosystem. Previously, Amy was Senior Vice President at Mastercard, where she led the global fintech team and founded the award-winning Start Path programme, supporting hundreds of startups that have collectively raised billions. Originally from the UK and now based in Dublin, Amy began her career in academia and holds a PhD in Computational Linguistics.

Director at MML Growth Capital Partners Ireland, the private equity firm backing ambitious Irish SMEs, where he has spent almost a decade investing in and supporting growth companies, first as Investment Manager and as Director since 2020. A chartered certified accountant (ACCA), Stephen sits on the boards of several portfolio companies, including as Non-Executive Director of Mitchell McDermott and Virginia International Logistics and as a board member of Travel Department, and previously served as Non-Executive Director of Cruinn Diagnostics.

Award-winning innovation and financial services leader with senior experience across Virgin Money, Commonwealth Bank, American Express, NatWest and the Central Bank of Ireland. Carole has delivered enterprise-scale transformation and business impact, establishing the Central Bank's Innovation Sandbox Programme and Innovation Data Challenge, and launching major customer loyalty programmes across international markets. A Columbia Executive MBA, she now advises fintech and high-growth businesses through her consultancy, Remedy, helping founders navigate regulation and bring bold ideas to market.

Investment Associate at Elkstone, focused on sourcing and identifying new investment opportunities. Before Elkstone, Cillian spent 3.5 years at Enterprise Ireland working on early-stage investments in software and food/agri-tech, where he led investments in 30+ companies across pre-seed and seed. He was previously co-founder of a VisionAI startup in the MarTech space backed by Techstars, Nvidia and others, and in another life set up a chain of hospitality venues in the West of Ireland. Cillian is active across the Irish startup and venture ecosystem, speaking at startup events and mentoring companies across the island.

Business consultant with Furthr and founder & CEO of sustainable tea brand Chi Fit. Known as "The Innovation Strategist," Rosalind has spent over four years in Ireland's startup ecosystem mentoring and championing founders, with a particular focus on supporting female entrepreneurs. She also lectures in strategy and entrepreneurship and is a frequent speaker and panel moderator, including at Dublin Tech Summit.

Corporate Partner at McCann FitzGerald LLP, specialising in M&A, joint ventures, restructurings and, in particular, private equity and venture capital transactions across the technology, medical devices, pharmaceutical and renewable energy sectors. A Trinity College Dublin law graduate, he is co-head of the firm's Start-Up team and, with Rory O'Malley, a driving force behind the Start Strong programme.

Accomplished global business leader with an exceptional executive record across marketing, commercial and general management roles, powered by a conviction that world-class marketing and innovation accelerates business growth. Aedamar held numerous senior executive positions within The Coca-Cola System, leading transformation and innovation programmes, and brings a blend of big-brand experience and start-up/consultancy thinking. A Trinity College Dublin economics graduate with a Stanford Digital Accelerator programme and an IoD Diploma in Company Direction, she is a Fellow of the Marketing Institute of Ireland and The Marketing Society (London), former Chair of the Irish Beverage Council (IBEC), an Independent Director of Cricket Leinster and a Governor of Wesley College Dublin.

Founder and CEO of Agile Executives, Ireland's largest network of fractional executives and mentors working with ambitious scaling SMEs. A commercially strong leader who has consistently improved the financial and operational performance of the businesses he has worked with, Tony is a strategic thinker with a proven capacity for leading change and delivering outstanding results, with experience in acquisitions, sales, restructuring, turnarounds and attracting new business. His career achievements have been delivered through process improvement, employee engagement, integrity and innovative approaches to transformation. With a passion for business and for sport, he brings senior executive experience across FMCG, retail, food services, hospitality, technology and sport in Ireland, the US and Europe.

Strategic sales leader with more than 20 years' experience leading sales and account management teams across professional services, financial services and technology. As Fractional Chief Commercial Officer with Agile Executives, Fiona works with founders and SMEs to access funding, grants and senior expertise to grow and scale their businesses. She helps organisations, particularly fast-growing SMEs, professionalise their sales operations, strengthen go-to-market strategy and build sustainable revenue growth, specialising in sales enablement, sales excellence, sales transformation and interim or fractional sales leadership, from designing playbooks and processes to optimising pipelines and key accounts, setting clear KPIs and coaching teams to deliver measurable results. Her leadership style is focused on building positive, collaborative and inclusive cultures while mentoring and developing talent. Fiona is passionate about backing start-ups and supporting founders to own the room, communicate their vision and tell their story with impact, and brings valuable commercial insight to the National Startup Awards together with a strong understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing ambitious early-stage and scaling businesses.

Founder of Cronin & Company, the Dublin-based accountancy firm he established in 1978 and grew into one of Ireland's leading practices. Now a team of over 70 professionals and a member of Russell Bedford International, the firm offers audit and assurance, taxation, business advisory, company secretarial and dedicated start-up support to companies of every size and sector.

Head of Marketing and Channels at Microfinance Ireland, the not-for-profit, Government-backed lender that provides loans of up to €50,000 to micro-enterprises that cannot secure funding from mainstream banks. Lorna works closely with referral partners including the Local Enterprise Offices, AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB to ensure small businesses know about and can access this vital support.

Director and Partner at Cronin & Company with over 20 years' experience in professional practice. A Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), Glen is known for his hands-on approach to client service and his ability to navigate complex financial and corporate compliance matters, supporting start-ups and scaling businesses alike.

CEO at Púca, the Irish messaging tech company she joined in 2001 when it was an early-stage startup. With thirty years in the technology sector, Eileen understands the personal, professional and regulatory challenges of building and growing technology businesses. In recent years she spearheaded the redevelopment and launch of Púca's enterprise SMS platform, strengthening its position as a trusted messaging provider in the Irish market. She is also Co-Founder and Non-Executive Director of Prommt, an Irish paytech scale-up with a growing international presence.

Senior Development Advisor in the High Potential Start-up (HPSU) unit at Enterprise Ireland. Michael works directly with Ireland's most ambitious early-stage companies, advising founders on scaling internationally and accessing Enterprise Ireland funding and supports as they build innovative, export-focused businesses.

Founder and host of The Entrepreneur Experiment, Ireland's number one independent business podcast, where he has interviewed hundreds of founders including Steven Bartlett and Gary Neville. Gary bootstrapped his own company HostButlers from zero to €500K turnover, lectures on entrepreneurship at Trinity College Dublin's Tangent, invests in early-stage companies, and regularly hosts the National Startup Awards.

Senior Executive Officer and Business Advisor at the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Dublin City, within Dublin City Council. With over ten years' experience supporting micro and small businesses to develop and access funding, Ross holds an M.Sc. in Project Management and a B.Sc. in Food Business, and previously managed the EU-supported LEADER Rural Development Programme in west Cork.