Mentors
As we deployed our SmartCamp Events IBM has been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with some of the world’s best and brightest business leaders and entrepreneurs.
In no particular order:
 |
Bernard Dallé
|
| Company |
Partner at Index Ventures |
| Academic Profile |
MSc. in Electrical Engineering – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne MBA- Kellogg Graduate School of Business. |
| Area of Specialization |
His areas of investment focus currently include enterprise infrastructure, applications and services. |
 |
Bill Reichert
|
| Company |
Garage Technology Ventures M |
| Academic Profile |
AB in History and Science – Harvard UniversityMBA – Stanford University |
| Area of Specialization |
Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, International trade, and monetary policy. |
 |
Colette Ballou
|
| Company |
Ballou PR |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Colette has specific expertise counselling start-ups, venture capital firms, biotechnology companies and global media organizations. She’s a 500Startups mentor. |
 |
Gabriel (Gabi) Tal
|
| Company |
IBM, Director of ISV & Developer Relations, SouthWest Europe |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Relationships with Independent Software Vendors and corporate developers. Various management positions in IBM and externally including heading the IBM Israel Public, Communications and Distribution Sectors, the establishment and management of Global Technology Unit. |
 |
Kieran Moynihan
|
| Company |
Cork Institute of Technology, Entrepreneur-in-residence |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Entrepreneur and executive with over 19 years in technology businesses specialising in telecoms software companies in various management roles including CEO, CTO and most recently Vice President and CTO for Telecoms for the IBM Tivoli division. Currently focusses on providing strategic consultancy to both early-stage and mid-size companies. |
 |
Paul E McManus
|
| Company |
Boston University, School of Management, Executive-in-Residence |
| Academic Profile |
MBA, Boston University BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology, Wentworth Institute of Technology |
| Area of Specialization |
Lecturing in Strategy and Entrepreneurship. Previous roles as Venture Partner with international investments in early-stage technology ventures, consultant to investors, corporations, government agencies and start-ups in the international venture community and corporate new venture development executive, product manager and engineer in the high tech industry. Sits on various Committees/Councils within Boston University and externally. |
|
Paul McKeon
|
| Company |
Propylon Limited, Founder and Chief Executive Officer |
| Academic Profile |
Chartered Accountant |
| Area of Specialization |
Experienced technology entrepreneur and investor with experience ranging from advising small start-ups as a non-executive director and corporate finance advisor to running successful technology companies with an international bias. |
 |
Barry Murphy
|
| Company |
Independent Entrepreneur |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Telecoms sector, business development, leading company from a start-up, through VC investment, to it becoming a major player in the billing mediation space with a staff in North America, Asia and Europe. Barry was Ireland’s first National Software Director (NSD) and oversaw a quadrupling of software exports in that period. |
 |
Mike Grandinetti
|
| Company |
Southboro Capital LLC, Managing Director |
| Academic Profile |
BS in Engineering, magna cum laude, from Rutgers MBA, Yale |
| Area of Specialization |
Cross-disciplinary background in the field of innovation, operating experience as a serial venture capital – backed entrepreneur, helped lead VC-backed companies to successful exits and worked with entrepreneurs as a lecturer, coach, advisor and board member. Holds faculty appointments as Senior Lecturer at US and EU universities and is active in advising economic development agencies on innovation cluster formation. He is a mentor in many top- tier entrepreneurship programs. |
 |
John Hearne
|
| Company |
Cúram Software, Co-founder & CEO |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Social Enterprise Management software solutions. Company strategy including worldwide sales, development and strategic alliance efforts |
 |
Nicholas Hawthin
|
| Company |
StartupBootcamp.dk and Riskcontainment.com |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
MSc Business & ITRisk Management, Strategy, ProcessesBig fan of the opportunities that well managed risks present, especially in technology, startups, and organizations that dare to think differently. |
 |
Dr Nimrod Kozlovski
|
| Company |
Tel-Aviv University, Lecturer |
| Academic Profile |
PhD in law (JSD), Yale Law School |
| Area of Specialization |
Internet and information law and information security. Consultant to start-ups, high-tech companies and governmental bodies and serves in the advisory board of several technological companies. Author of and co-editor of books and articles on the Internet and privacy law, computer crimes, computer search and seizure and electronic evidence. |
 |
Prof Dafna Schwartz
|
| Company |
Independent Consultant |
| Academic Profile |
PhD, Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| Area of Specialization |
Head of the MBA program in Entrepreneurship and High-Tech Management and Director of the Bengis Center for Entrepreneurship and Hi-Tech Management. Specialization areas include Economic and Business Development, High-Tech Industry, Start-ups, Entrepreneurship, Knowledge economy, SMEs, Regional and Local Economic Development. Economic consultant in Israel and abroad and with experience as a board member of many leading Israeli corporations. Prior to joining the University, wasDirector General of the Development Study Center. |
 |
Dr Amikam Levanon
|
| Company |
Alimo Ventures Ltd, Founder |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Brings a blend of business and technology experience in international and multicultural environments. Over the past 14 years, has been active in all aspects of the business life cycle of companies: from the initiation of “start-ups”, followed by several stages of fund-raising, as well as developing international business. In particular, he operated in Asian and European markets, with focused experience in Japan and Greece. |
 |
Prof Israel (Izzy) Borovich
|
| Company |
Independent Entrepreneur |
| Academic Profile |
BsC Industrial Engineering MsC Industrial EngineeringPhD Operations Research |
| Area of Specialization |
Over the past 17 years has been active on Boards including Chairman Board of Governors, Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sport; Chairman, Alut, The Israeli Society for Autistics; Member Board of Trustees, Polytechnic University, New York plus many more. Was recipient of the Hugo Ramniceanu Prize in Economics in 2005 from Tel Aviv University and is the author of number of books and large number of articles in leading journals. |
 |
Chris Horn
|
| Company |
|
| Academic Profile |
Degree in Engineering & PhD, Trinity College Dublin |
| Area of Specialization |
Co-founder and former CEO of IONA Technologies. Served as chair of various technology companies and Irish national policy groups including non executive director of Chaco and Baltimore Technologies. Currently involved with companies and initiatives including Engineers Ireland, China Crest, Cloudsmith, Gridstore, SophiaSearch etc. Former chair of UNICEF Ireland, Irish Brain Research Foundation, Irish Management Institute and Dublin Chamber of Commerce e-City working group.Was a member of the Innovation Taskforce, an advisory group established by the Taoiseach, which reported to Government in February 2010 and now a member of the Implementation Group to oversee execution of the Taskforce recommendations. |
 |
Simon Clark
|
| Company |
Fidelity Growth Partners, Partner |
| Academic Profile |
MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, Wadham College Oxford Qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Price Waterhouse in London |
| Area of Specialization |
Focuses on investment opportunities in emerging European technology companies. Serves on the board of Asset Control, Curam, Neverfail, Newbay, Qumas and GoodData Previous positions include Chief Financial Officer and General Manager, International of TheStreet.com (NASDAQ: TSCM) a leading financial news website. Spent over seven years at Reuters in various finance, IT and general management positions and, in 1995, established and ran Reuters.com.Represents Fidelity Growth Partners as a committee member for the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Associate, the industry body for the UK private equity and venture capital industry and serves on the London Committee for Human Rights Watch. |
|
Jim Corgel
|
| Company |
IBM, ISV and Developer Relations,General Manager |
| Academic Profile |
BA and an MBA, University of Notre Dame |
| Area of Specialisation |
Responsible for IBM’s worldwide relationship with inde-pendent software vendors (ISVs) and manages the key part-nerships with the development, academic, and venture capi-tal communities which comprise IBM’s industry-leading ecosystem of influencers. During 30+ year career in IBM held a broad range of posi-tions in marketing and field management, led services solu-tions for small and medium business clients and was general manager for Web and application hosting services business.
Serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Under-graduate Experience, University of Notre Dame and is a member of the advisory board to the Smurfit School of Business, University College Dublin. |
 |
Roberto de Saint-Malo
|
| Company |
co-founded Adara |
| Academic Profile |
MBA degree – Harvard Business SchoolComputer Science degree (BA) withSumma Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors at Dartmouth College |
| Area of Specialization |
has extensive experience finding, making, managing and exiting direct equity investments |
 |
Will Prendergast
|
| Company |
Partner – NCB Ventures |
| Academic Profile |
University College Dublin – degree in chemical engineering |
| Area of Specialisation |
focus on early and expansion stage investing opportunities in the ICT (software/wireless), medtech and cleantech sectors |
 |
Sean Baker
|
| Company |
co-founder of IONA Technologies |
| Academic Profile |
Ph.D. in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin, and held a tenured post in the Department of Computer Science at TCD |
| Area of Specialization |
He is a member of the Boards of 3Strata, National Digital Research Centre, Delta Index and Gridstore; he is the Chairman of the Irish Software Association, and is a member of the Advisory Science Council, CIO Ireland and the Lero and ICHEC Advisory Boards |
 |
Sylwester Janik
|
| Company |
Partner and Board Member in MCI Management SA |
| Academic Profile |
management of corporate venturing programs |
| Area of Specialisation |
investment and fundraising projects |
 |
Jonathan Baer
|
| Company |
founder of Threshold Ventures |
| Academic Profile |
BA in Biology & BS in Engineering Science – Tufts UniversityMBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business |
| Area of Specialization |
angel investor and a startup advisor to Software Development Forum |
 |
Geoffrey S. Oblak
|
| Company |
General Partner – Ascent Venture Partners |
| Academic Profile |
BA in Economics – Hamilton College,MBA – Boston University,London School of Economics.current CFA Charterholder. |
| Area of Specialization |
He specializes in opportunities within information security, data analytics, and enterprise infrastructure. |
 |
Ms. Wiebke Passmann
|
| Company |
Triangle Partner, Investment Manager |
| Academic Profile |
Wiebke studied International Business Studies (IBS) in Paderborn, Germany and Zaragoza,Spain and graduated in 2005 |
| Area of Specialization |
emphasis on the management of the dealflow and deal sourcing process including the interaction and collaboration with universities’ techtransfer and spin-off activities |
 |
Jimmy Martin
|
| Company |
CEO Director of Limerick based AMCS |
| Academic Profile |
Maths and Physics – Trinity College Dublin Founder |
| Area of Specialization |
Founded in 2003 AMCS currently employs 65 people in Ireland, UK, Sweden and the US serving IT needs of environmental companies such as Greenstar, SITA, Recyclebank and Veolia. |
 |
Richard Marsh
|
| Company |
DFJ – Partner |
| Academic Profile |
Engineering graduate of Cambridge University where he also received his PhD. Richard holds an MBA from IMD, Lausanne, where he was a Sainsbury Management Fellow |
| Area of Specialisation |
Richard has spent his career in venture capital and as an entrepreneur, with a decade of operational experience in technology businesses. He was the founder and CEO of Datanomic, a successful software business backed by 3i. |
 |
John O’Donohue
|
| Company |
Arcapita |
| Academic Profile |
degree engineering – University College DublinMBA – Imperial College London |
| Area of Specialisation |
twenty five years of operational and strategic experience in developing new technology and taking it to market |
 |
Matthias Ummenhofer
|
| Company |
European Investment Fund |
| Academic Profile |
B.S. in Technical Economics from the University of Karlsruhe, a M.S. in International Finance from the University of Aix-Marseille II, a DEA in Transport Economics and Logistics Management and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the same University |
| Area of Specialisation |
Business development and shaping EIF’s strategy in the early stage technology market. |
 |
Philip Sharpe
|
| Company |
Chairman of Danu Technologies |
| Academic Profile |
Physics – Dublin City University DipM Royal Institute of Marketing |
| Area of Specialisation |
Active in varying capacities (director / investor / advisor) with variety of technology companies. Non-Executive Director of National Digital Research Centre (NDRC), Socowave Ltd, Druid Software Ltd, Executive Council Member – Irish Software Association |
 |
Prof. Barry Smyth
|
| Company |
Chair of Computer Science in the of Computer Science and Informatics at University College Dublin |
| Academic Profile |
Barry’s research interests include artificial intelligence and recommender systems. He has published over 350 scientific papers in leading journals and conferences and received numerous awards for his research |
| Area of Specialisation |
experienced entrepreneur, having co-founded ChangingWorlds (acquired by Amdocs Inc, 2008) and a new social search company, HeyStaks, which recently secured €1m in venture capital funding. |
 |
Alexandre Gonthier
|
| Company |
Venture Partner with Wellington Partners |
| Academic Profile |
Masters in Communications Systems from EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. |
| Area of Specialisation |
strong background in the internet, mobile and payments sectors where he has been operating for over 15 years, on both sides of the Atlantic. |
 |
Eoghan Jennings
|
| Company |
CFO – XING 2004-2009 |
| Academic Profile |
B.Sc London School of Economics |
| Area of Specialisation |
Led the IPO team in 2006 – best performing IPO in Germany since. Advisor on > 50 capital market and M&A transactions. Overall, it’s about building great companies, as advisor and investor. Oh, and I have three kids and still don’t know what hit me… |
 |
Nikolaj Nyholm
|
| Company |
Partner at Sunstone Capital |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialisation |
Nikolaj Nyholm is an accomplished Internet Entrepreneur who has spent the last 12 years pushing the forefront of Internet infrastructure projects through commercial ventures or community activity. |
|
|
 |
Paddy Holahan
|
| Company |
founder and CEO of NewBay Software |
| Academic Profile |
degree in Computer Science- Trinity College Dublin, Leadership 4 Growth programme at Stanford University |
| Area of Specialisation |
Prior to founding NewBay, Paddy was executive vice president of Marketing and Product Management at Baltimore Technologies. A key member of the executive management team that rapidly grew the company, organically and through acquisitions, to become a public company valued at over $10bn. |
<td width=”40CompanyFounding CEO of Euristix Ltd
 |
Peter Jones
|
| Company |
Eden – General Partner |
|
 |
Claudia Fan Munce
|
| Company |
Managing Director – IBM Venture Capital Group Vice President, IBM Corporate Strategy |
| Academic Profile |
Born in Taiwan, Claudia grew up in Brazil and came to the U.S. for graduate studies. She holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Santa Clara University, and an MBA from Stanford University. |
| Area of Specialization |
Claudia Fan Munce has been the Managing Director of the IBM Venture Capital Group since March 2004. In addition to this role, she is also Vice President of IBM Corporate Strategy. Claudia joined IBM Research Division in 1985 and held many technical and business leadership positions. Prior to assuming her current position, Claudia was the functional manager in IBM Research overseeing technology transfer and licensing activities as well as defining new business opportunities with top IBM partners.Claudia is the Chairman of NVCA Corporate Venture Advisory Board for 2007/2008 and she also serves on the board of Latin America Venture Capital Association. |
 |
Gerry Mooney
|
| Company |
General Manager, IBM Global Government & Education |
| Academic Profile |
holds a MBA from Yale University, a MS in Accounting from Georgetown University, and a BA in Philosophy from Mount Saint Mary’s College. |
| Area of Specialization |
Responsibility for understanding client needs, defining IBM’s strategy, selecting investment areas, creating marketing programs, and directing the deployment of IBM resources worldwide for these two industry groups.He is also presently leading a cross IBM project office focused on Implementing IBM’s Smarter Planet programs globally across both the public and private sectors. Mr. Mooney is a member of the Board of Directors of The Intelligent Transportation Society of America.Mr. Mooney also had responsibility for IBM Venture Capital organization whose mission is to leverage relations with top tier Venture Capital firms and their portfolio companies to enable development of ecosystems around key IBM growth initiatives and evolving market opportunities in industries that IBM serves. |
 |
Frank Walsh
|
| Company |
Partner, Enterprise Equity Venture Capital |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Frank has worked in investment finance in both the United States and Ireland for over 18 years. His direct experience includes investment banking, equity research, venture capital, and joint venture development. Frank has helped numerous technology companies raise both public and private capital as part of Initial Public Offerings, Secondaries, PIPE’s, and Venture Fundings. In addition to his international Corporate Finance experience, Frank worked directly with a number of Irish start-ups to help them maximise their business potential, drive company growth, and attract external investment. Finally, Frank was a founding director of two companies since his return to Ireland, both of which operated successfully and were ultimately sold. Frank serves on the board of directors of portfolio companies NitroSell Limited, Donseed Limited, EpiSensor Limited, New Game Limited, Mingoa Limited, Assembly Point Limited and FerFics Limited. |
 |
Colm Lyon
|
| Company |
CEO Realex |
| Academic Profile |
University College Dublin Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Management Science Degree. |
| Area of Specialization |
Founded Realex Payments in 2000. Prior to 2000, Colm’s career spanned over twenty five years in payment related businesses, starting with fourteen years in the financial service sector. In 2009 he was awarded the Internet Hero Award at the Golden Spider Awards for his contribution to the Irish Internet Industry. In 2009 Colm founded the “Internet Growth Alliance”, a business led initiative to support the international growth ambitions of Irish Internet businesses. Colm is involved in other internet start up businesses and has plans to launch a major new payment business, Carapay in 2011. |
 |
Paddy Cosgrave
|
| Company |
F.ounders |
| Academic Profile |
Trinity College, Dublin
BA, MA , 2006 |
| Area of Specialization |
Helper at F.ounders, Founder at Qukly, Organiser at Dublin Web Summit, Co-Founder and Director at Undergraduate Awards of Ireland, E-Leader at United Nations Global Alliance for ICT & Development, Chairman – Global Youth Forum at International Telecommunications Union, Co-Founder at MiCandidate, CEO and Founder at Rock the Vote Ireland |
 |
Cathal McGloin
|
| Company |
CEO of FeedHenry Ltd |
| Academic Profile |
BE University College Dublin, MBA Smurfit Business School, UCD |
| Area of Specialization |
currently CEO of FeedHenry Ltd., an Irish campus company that has been spin out of the TSSG research center in Waterford. He was previously President of Arantech Inc. and a member of the executive team
at Aran Technologies, a successful Irish company which was acquired in 2009. In 1998 Cathal was founder and CEO of Performix Technologies and moved to the US in 2000. Performix was acquired in 2005. |
 |
Paraic O Toole
|
| Company |
CEO – Automsoft |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Automsoft’s Chief Executive Officer and majority shareholder. He joined Automsoft from Cambridge Technology Partners where over a five year period he held a number of roles including Client Partner in the Management Consulting Division, Director – Bespoke Development, General Manager of Ireland, Vice President e-Business Consulting, Western Europe and Vice President, Western Europe. Prior to joining Cambridge, he was a Founding Partner in Picus, an international strategy consulting firm who focused on the European financial services industry. He co-founded Picus after leaving Lifetime Assurance, the life and investment arm of Bank of Ireland where he held roles as Head of IT and Head of Marketing and Corporate Development. A serial entrepreneur, having founded his first technology company in the early 1980s, Paraic has written numerous technology and business articles and white papers and is an occasional contributor to a number of journals as well as business and technology programs on both television and radio. Paraic was a member of the Executive Council of the Irish Software Association (ISA) until this year, spent ten years on the Board of the US-Ireland Alliance, a non-profit which runs amongst other programs the Mitchell Scholarships and is on the Board of Tearfund Ireland. |
 |
Larry Augustin
|
| Company |
CEO – SugarCRM |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Larry Augustin is an angel investor and advisor to early stage technology companies. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Appcelerator, Compiere, DeviceVM, DotNetNuke, Fonality, Hyperic, Medsphere, Pentaho and SugarCRM. One of the group who coined the term “Open Source”, he has written and spoken extensively on Open Source worldwide. Worth Magazine named him to their list of the Top 50 CEOs in 2000. From 2002 to 2004 he was a Venture Partner at Azure Capital Partners. In 1993 he founded VA Linux (now SourceForge, NASDAQ:LNUX) serving as CEO until August 2002. While CEO he launched SourceForge.net and led the company through an IPO in December 1999. |
 |
Modi Rosen
|
| Company |
Magma |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Managing Partner – Co-FounderMr. Rosen has been a managing partner of Magma Venture Partners for the last eleven years. In this capacity he invests and help grow start-up companies in the ICT world. Before establishing Magma, Modi spent 12 years doing strategy consulting work with Monitor Company and Shaldor Ltd. In this capacity he specialized in the communication industry and worked with leading global and Israeli corporates such as Siemens, ECI and Tadiran defining their business strategy and executing on it. Mr. Rosen has over 20 years of experience in strategic management of technology companies. He also served on boards of public companies; he was for few years a board member in Amdocs, the leading global billing company. Mr. Rosen serves on the Boards of Provigent Inc., Crescendo Networks Ltd., Hola Inc. and Nipendo Ltd. |
 |
Shay Garvey
|
| Company |
Delta Partners |
| Academic Profile |
A graduate of University College Dublin in Chemical Engineering he has an MS in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick Canada and an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Business School. |
| Area of Specialization |
Shay Garvey joined Delta Partners in 1994 as a General Partner. He serves on the boards of Aircraft Management Technologies Ltd and Branded Payment Solutions Ltd. He was also previously on the board of Toucan Technology (sold to PMC Sierra Nasdaq: PMCS), Exceptis (sold to Trintech, Nasdaq: TTPA), Rogers Group Storage (sold to P&O, FTSE: PO), and Improveline (sold to Homeserve, FTSE: HSV). Shay has worked with Exxon, Corning Process Systems and McKinsey Inc. He was also the principal in a number of start up ventures in Ireland before joining Delta. He is past Chairman of the Irish Venture Capital Association and Board member of the European Venture Capital Association. |
 |
Ian Jenks
|
| Company |
Executive Chairman Intune Networks |
| Academic Profile |
Ian has a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Bristol University. |
| Area of Specialization |
Ian has been the Executive Chairman of Intune Networks, a Telecommunications Equipment Vendor taking an innovative approach to creating next generation networks infrastructures for telecoms service providers since March 2008 . Ian is also Chairman of a Solar Cell Power manufacturing company, QuantaSol. Ian has more than 20 years of board-level experience in the communications technology field, both as an investor and as CEO of operating companies in the U.S. and Europe. Most recently, Ian was a general partner with VC firm Crescendo ventures. Previously, Ian was Chairman of Oplink Communications Inc., which he took Public in 2000. |
 |
Aaron Mankovski
|
| Company |
Managing General Partner Pitango Venture Capital |
| Academic Profile |
Aaron holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Statistics from Tel Aviv University and has also served as a pilot in the Israeli Air Force |
| Area of Specialization |
Tenure in venture capital started in 1996 when he co-founded Eucalyptus Ventures, and has served as Managing Director since that time. He continued as Managing General Partner of Pitango Venture Capital since the merger of the Eucalyptus and Pitango management groups in 2000.
Prior to joining the Venture industry, Aaron had 16 years of experience in Executive Management in the high-technology sector in Israel and abroad. Prior to founding Eucalyptus, he served as Corporate Vice President of Orbotech Ltd.(NASDAQ: ORBK), responsible for worldwide operations, sales and customer support. From 1986 to 1993, Aaron served as President and CEO of Orbotech Inc, HQ in Boston USA., where he also guided the merger of Orbot and Optrotech that led to the establishment of Orbotech. He previously was a sales executive at IBM |
 |
Don Harrington
|
| Company |
Director, Goodbody Corporate Finance |
| Academic Profile |
BComm UCG, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. |
| Area of Specialisation |
Don has been advising PE and VC funds, Irish and International public and private companies on equity and debt funding, corporate restructuring, mergers & acquisitions and other strategic advice since 1992. Don also has significant direct Venture Capital and Private Equity experience. Prior to joining Goodbody, he worked with Trinity Venture Capital, Davy and Ernst & Young Corporate Finance (UK). Some technology clients advised include Euristix (acqd by Fore Systems Inc), Datacare (acqd by Computershare plc), Havok (acqd by Intel), Media Market (acquired by TNS plc), Riverdeep (IPO) and Spectrum Equity (proposed acqn of Trintech Group plc). Don is also currently a member of the Enterprise Ireland Seed and Venture Capital Committee. |
 |
Phil Cox
|
| Company |
SVB Financial Group |
| Academic Profile |
Phil is both ACIB (Chartered Institute of Bankers) and AMCT (Corporate Treasurers) qualified. |
| Area of Specialization |
Having spent the majority of his career in the banking sector in Europe, Phil Cox joined SVB Financial Group in London in August 2009 to lead its global operations in the EMEA Region. In this capacity, Phil is responsible for the existing UK and Israel operations and will lead the continued growth and geographic expansion of the business. For more than 20 years, Phil has worked in banking sector and brings a wealth of experience and leadership to SVB Financial Group. Prior to joining SVB, he was the Head of Commercial Banking at Bank of Scotland in London, a division of Lloyds Banking Group. In this role, Phil was responsible for the Relationship Management, Origination and Operational aspects of the business.Prior to that, Phil was with the NatWest/RBS Group for 23 years and held a variety of positions, including Managing Director of Transport and Infrastructure Finance, Regional Managing Director of the North of England Region and the same position for the South West and Wales business. |
 |
Charles Vaslet
|
| Company |
Emerald Technology Ventures |
| Academic Profile |
Charles graduated with a Bachelor degree with Honours in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Leeds and a Master of Business Administration from Henley Management College. |
| Area of Specialization |
Based in our Zurich office, Charles Vaslet is a Partner
with Emerald Technology Ventures and is focused
on renewable energy, energy resources and energy
conversion technology investments within the clean
technology sector. Prior to joining Emerald, Charles
held the position of Vice President with ABB Equity
Ventures, one of the world’s leading engineering
companies, responsible for the development of large
renewable energy projects in Europe. Previous to
ABB, Charles led the business development activities
of the cogeneration business of National Power PLC,
a large UK electric utility, and has ten years of power
utility experience, both engineering and commerce in
the fields of renewable energy and thermal energy
plants. He currently serves on the Boards of Emergya
Wind Technologies, Senscient and River Basin Energy.
In addition, Charles spearheads the European Energy
Venture Fair, the preeminent European cleantech
investor conference. |
 |
Pat Brazel
|
| Company |
CEO at Zignals |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
- Chairman at Irish Software Association
- Chairman at PolarLake
- Partner at GoldTier Technologies
|
 |
Jim Miley
|
| Company |
CEO at 4FM |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Miley co-founded MyHome.ie and served as CEO from 2000 to 2009. As well as being a former chief executive of Dublin Chamber of Commerce and General Secretary of Fine Gael he spent nearly 10 years as a producer and reporter on both radio and TV at RTE. A former aid worker in Africa, he is currently non-executive chairman of Concern. |
 |
Itzik Pamafes
|
| Company |
Battery Ventures |
| Academic Profile |
|
| Area of Specialization |
Itzik joined Battery 2009 and focuses on investments in industrial technologies, advanced materials, semiconductors, and innovative hardware/communications products. He is currently on the board of Panaya and is a board observer for ZeRTO. He also spent time working alongside the Battery investment team as an Entrepreneur in Residence in the firm’s Israel office. Before Battery, Itzik was a Partner with Stata Ventures, where he led investments in Provigent, Sirica, Comability, Sentrigo and ZiBit.Before venture investing, Itzik spent the majority of his career as entrepreneur. He co-founded Kagoor Networks, a leader in Voice over IP technologies, and led it to a successful acquisition by Juniper Networks, its first acquisition of an Israeli company. Previously, Itzik led the R&D of Class Data Systems until it was acquired by Cisco Systems, the first of many acquisitions in Israel. Before joining the private sector, Itzik led a landmark infrastructure project in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) that won the prestigious Israel Defense Award. Itzik holds a BSc Summa Cum Laude in CS and Math from the Technion – Institute of Technology. |
 |
Robert Browne
|
| Company |
Monitor |
| Academic Profile |
Robert was educated in Ireland where he received a Bachelor of Commerce and an MSc in Economics from University College Cork, Ireland. |
| Area of Specialization |
Robert is a Partner with Monitor’s Market2Customer (M2C) business unit based in London and is a member of the firm’s European management team. Robert focuses on marketing, pricing and cost issues for industrial clients in Europe and his experience includes the automotive, chemicals, and energy industries. Prior to his consulting career, Robert worked as an economist in the telecommunications industry. |
 |
Philippe Gire
|
| Company |
Elaia Partners |
| Academic Profile |
Philippe Graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (X76), a leading French Engineer School. |
| Area of Specialization |
Philippe has over 25 years of operating and financial experience with IT services and software in France, mainly at Accenture.Philippe spent the first years of his carreer at Accenture, in charge of implementing IT services solutions for the R&D departments of industrial groups such as European Space Agency and Alcatel. He became Managing Partner in 1989, responsible for the High Technologies sectors and managed the enterprise software business lines in France.Appointed Senior Partner for outsourcing services accross Europe, he was also developping “New Business Models” within the IT and Communications Industries. In 2000, he moved to Valeo, a French automotive parts manufacturer, as VP Strategy and e-Business. He also launched Valeo Ventures and completed 5 investments. |
 |
Brian O’Donovan
|
| Company |
IBM |
| Academic Profile |
Ph.D. in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin. Additional degrees from National University of Ireland, Galway and University of Limerick |
| Area of Specialization |
over 25 years of experience working for a variety of multinational companies in the IT industry. He is an expert in on-line collaboration tools and the use of social software for business. |
Like this:
One blogger likes this page.
