DENISE MCQUAID, co-founder of Awaken Hub and Awaken Angels, has said their companies are growing rapidly and deepening ties with the Irish diaspora, while preparing for a series of new programmes in 2026.
McQuaid, from Blackrock, Co. Louth, recently returned to Ireland after more than a decade working abroad, including in the US, China and London.
“I just moved back to Ireland in 2025,” she said. “With the growth in our activity, I moved back because a lot of our angel investors were looking for more in-person engagement in our community.”
Awaken Hub was formed in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, by McQuaid and her fellow co-founders Mary McKenna, Sinead Crowley and Clare McGee.
The group emerged from two long-standing sets of professional friendships: Mary and Clare, who had worked together in Derry and Donegal on company development; and Denise and Sinead, who had both been based in London.
“Mary is the conduit between both friendship groups,” McQuaid explained.
“We met back in 2014 and had started to collaborate on different projects and ideas between us, all focused on creating an equitable ecosystem for women-led businesses.”
The arrival of Covid created a surge in founders seeking guidance.
Many women entrepreneurs faced stalled fundraising efforts or were forced to pivot due to challenges caused by the pandemic.
“We felt at that time that there was a desperate need for peer-to-peer support,” McQuaid said.
“Founders in rural Ireland, or across different counties, needed to know there were people close to them going through the same thing.”
Denise McQuaid at one of their company events (Photo by Awaken Angels)Awaken Hub launched first as a digital community, later expanding to in-person events, accelerators and international programming.
Its accelerator for new entrepreneurs, She Generates, focuses on women at the earliest stage of their company.
Meanwhile, She Scales serves founders preparing to expand their business internationally.
“We have masterclasses in sales, fundraising and hiring the right people,” McQuaid said.
The community’s core mission has always been to support women founders with education, peer networks and investment opportunities.
In 2023, Awaken Hub formally launched its investment arm, Awaken Angels, after more than a year of preparation.
The intention from the outset, McQuaid said, was to build an all-island fund that could operate seamlessly in both jurisdictions.
“We wanted to make sure we were set up to be compliant in the North and the South and to be able to take funding in both sterling and euros.”
Investor numbers have grown rapidly: the community now stands at 118 members across Ireland, Britain and the US.
The group conducts an annual trade mission to the United States on or around St Brigid’s Day, chosen in honour of the saint’s association with women and innovation.
“The diaspora has formed a big part of our journey,” McQuaid said.
One of the main aims of Awaken Angels is demystifying angel investing for women and reducing the barriers to entry.
“It is often perceived that you need to be a high net-worth individual to start angel investing, and we wanted to remove that stereotype.”
To do this, the group created a nine-module training programme that introduces women to the fundamentals of angel investing in a “safe environment”, with the option to begin investing with as little as €2,000.
All four co-founders take part in the trade missions, where they support introductions to legal and fundraising advisors, and US investment groups interested in European opportunities.
The group has completed eight investments to date and expects to close four more before the end of the year.
Its investor community has contributed to deals that have helped leverage more than €4m in additional funding.
The group runs eight pitch events annually, a mix of online and in-person, to accommodate both local members and the diaspora.
“As we describe it, our angel investors come with two wings: one is the knowledge capital, and one is the financial capital,” McQuaid said.
“Those things don’t come independently of one another.”
Awaken Hub eventually led to Awaken Angels (Photo by Awaken Angels)More than 120 people across the community contribute to advising and supporting investee companies, alongside the four co-founders.
“What’s surprising is we have only one Dublin-based company. There is innovation across the whole island of Ireland, not just concentrated in Dublin.”
“Our portfolio is very spread across the island, which is something we’re incredibly proud of.”
She also noted a strong trend among early-stage founders building proprietary AI in their companies.
“There is real rigour in the AI that has been built into a lot of these companies,” she said, adding that stronger due diligence may become necessary to distinguish genuine proprietary innovation from generic tools.
Awaken Hub plans to run the She Scales programme again next year, with support from InterTradeIreland, Enterprise Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland.
The organisation has also secured a new initiative, Activate AI, launching in 2026 to help companies integrate AI into their operations.
“A lot of companies may be pre-revenue and may still be piloting their technology, but they really have to understand how their business model is being made.”
Citing a Boston Consulting Group report projecting that women will control 60% of global wealth by 2030, McQuaid said women should be encouraged to deploy “some riskier capital” as part of their financial planning.
“The opportunity to back women is incredible.”
