#MondayMotivation — 5 innovators shaking up tech investment who are speaking in Dublin this Summer
Need some #MondayMotivation? Meet just some of the figures making waves in tech investment. And hear them speak in Dublin this summer, at Inspirefest 2016.
Lack of diversity has always been a major issue for the tech industry, we’ve heard a lot in the past year from companies driving diversity recruitment and retention.
Tech investors have been known for investing in start-ups that follow pattern recognition. Does this look like the next Mark Zuckerberg? Stanford graduate, white male, hoodie-wearing ‘geek’? But some investors are actively going against the grain and are investing in start-ups with diverse leadership teams — and they are reaping the rewards. Why is this? Because diversity is good for business, just take a look at some of the reports in these high-profile publications: the Harvard Business Review, Scientific American and McKinsey & Company.
Inspirefest will see the return of the renowned Investor Panel, with leading-edge thinkers that are championing change in the tech industry. Here’s a quick look at the investors heading to Dublin this summer.
Kelly Hoey — (@jkhoey)
Kelly Hoey is an investor with Laconia Capital Group based in New York City. She also has a portfolio of Angel Investments (Levo League, Hullabalu, Smigin, CloudPeeps, SQL Vision, flowthings.io, Jekudo).
“Invest in the change you want to see in the world” is Kelly’s tagline on Twitter and the motto she lives by. She is an acknowledged leader in the start-up community for actively investing in women. In 2011, Kelly co-founded the first start-up accelerator focused exclusively on fast-tracking the growth of early-stage mobile technology ventures with gender-diverse founding teams. Kelly continues to advise emerging technology companies and actively mentors start-ups through selected accelerator programs in New York City.
Kelly has featured on Forbes’ “1 of 5 Women Changing the World of VC/Entrepreneurship” and Fast Company “25 Smartest Women On Twitter”.
Adam Quinton (@adamquinton)
We are thrilled that Adam will be back for Inspirefest 2016. Adam spoke on the Inspirefest 2015 Investor Panel last year where he called “bullsh*t” on Silicon Valley being a meritocracy:
Adam is founder and CEO of Lucas Point Ventures and he is an active investor and adviser to early-stage companies. He is also a founding angel of Astia Angels, which invests in high-growth women entrepreneurs, and is an adviser to the San Francisco Women’s Startup Lab and the Vinetta Project.
AlleyWatch named Adam as one of the 25 Angel Investors you need to know in New York as well as one of 100 Tech Influencers You Need to Know. In 2015, he was featured in Tech.co as “One of 8 VCs Making Waves”.
Jeanne M Sullivan (@gianna212)
Jeanne has more than 25 years’ investing experience and she brings her passion for the experienced economy to Inspirefest this summer. Jeanne is co-founder of StarVest Partners, a venture capital firm in New York City created in 1998 that has raised a massive $400 million to date. She is also Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer at Sullivan Adventures. We love her tagline on Twitter: NYC #VentureCapital On a Mission to Feul and Fund Women CEOs (and a few good men).
Forbes cited Sullivan as “one of the women VCs changing the world — grooming the next generation of female entrepreneurs”. The New York Angels organisation honoured Jeanne as its OPEL award winner — Outstanding Professionals for Entrepreneurial Leadership. The New York Hall of Science honoured her this year for her work inspiring girls and women in STEM and opening doors for opportunities.
Vicki Saunders (@vickis)
Based in Toronto, Vicki is an entrepreneur, award-winning mentor, adviser to the next generation of changemakers and a leading advocate for entrepreneurship as a way of creating positive transformation in the world. She is Founder of SheEO; a two-decade-long initiative to dramatically transform how we support, celebrate and finance female entrepreneurs building new models, new mindsets and new solutions for a better world.
Vicki was selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. She has spoken regularly at events around the world, including: the World Economic Forum in Davos and Women of Influence Series in Canada, among others.
Claudia Iannazzo (@ClaudiaIannazzo)
Claudia Iannazzo is a partner at Prereg Ventures, a fund investing in entrepreneurs with ideas to transform the world of marketing.
Her 15-year career has spanned five continents and she has facilitated more than $10bn of acquisitions, divestments, investments, IPOs, alliances and partnerships for companies around the globe. Since 2010, Claudia has used her corporate development expertise to help forge commercial arrangements between start-ups and multinationals in North America, Asia and Australia, and is an investment committee and advisory board member of several early-stage venture funds in North America and Asia.
We love her Twitter tagline: VC, entrepreneur, ecstatic Mom, passionate about increasing the # women VCs #changetheratio. Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value — Einstein.
Check out the latest speaker line-up — www.inspirefest.com
Inspirefest promises to be an incredible, must-see festival with leading-edge future thinkers, amazing networking and investment opportunities and impactful insights into the sci-tech industry.
Keep an eye on this page for some behind-the-scenes insights into Inspirefest and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram & Google
Early Bird tickets are now available, visit our website to buy tickets.
