AwakenAngels hits £4m milestone as women-led angel investor syndicate turns two
This article covers AwakenAngels, a women-led investment syndicate, marking its second anniversary after helping portfolio companies secure more than £4m. The milestone highlights a targeted initiative that aims to support women founders and women investors across the island of Ireland through membership, training and deal activity.
AwakenAngels marks second anniversary after helping portfolio companies secure more than £4m
Northern Ireland’s AwakenAngels, the island’s first women-led investment syndicate, says it has helped companies in its portfolio secure more than £4m as it marks its second year. The group — working alongside sister organisation AwakenHub — is positioning itself as a conduit for women founders and women angel investors across the island of Ireland, and this latest impact report outlines how they are building both a deal flow and a training pipeline.
Why it matters
AwakenAngels launched in 2023 with an explicit criterion: companies must have at least one woman founder holding a minimum 20% equity stake to be eligible for syndicate investment. That rule, combined with membership requirements that pitch applicants be part of AwakenHub, ties capital to a community and a readiness programme rather than leaving introductions to chance.
The syndicate’s claim of having helped portfolio companies secure more than £4m, and a separate figure showing eight portfolio companies have collectively raised £4m, is notable for a two‑year-old group focused on a specific demographic and geography. It underlines how targeted syndicates can channel capital into underfunded founder segments while also building deal experience among new angel investors.
Inside the portfolio
AwakenAngels lists eight portfolio pre-seed startups, each led by women founders across the island: Joanne Cole (Banbridge), Naomi McGregor of Movetru (Belfast), Clare Ryan of ITUS Secure Technologies (Derry/Donegal), Emma Meehan of KinetikIQ (Galway), Margaret Rae of Konree Innovation (Galway), Sarah‑Marie Rust of Eve Mobility (Dublin), Sheelagh Brady of Kowroo (Kildare) and Niamh Dooley of BiaSol (Offaly).
Together these companies account for the £4m raised to date. The syndicate also has three additional deals in due diligence, signalling continued origination activity rather than a one‑off batch of investments.
Who’s behind the syndicate
AwakenAngels operates as the investment arm of AwakenHub, the all‑island community for women founders and investors. The two organisations published a joint impact report titled Breaking Barriers. Backing Women. Building Businesses., which sets out membership, deal and training figures and highlights institutional support that has helped scale the initiative.
Institutional partners include InterTradeIreland — which supports all‑island initiatives through its Shared Island programme — and the British Business Bank. Both organisations part‑fund programme delivery and sponsor some first‑time angels, helping reduce the financial barrier for women entering angel investing.
Membership and training: building a pipeline
Since launch, AwakenAngels says membership has doubled to more than 118 investors and it has added 13 experienced deal leaders to manage an expanding pipeline. Around 90% of syndicate investors are women.
The group has also focused on training: its CPD‑accredited AwakenAngels Investor Academy has already trained 75 novice investors, with another 35 starting the programme this month. Two all‑island initiatives supported via InterTradeIreland — an Angel Investor Masterclass Series and a Deal Leader Training programme — reached more than 260 women across Ireland and the US and aimed to equip participants to lead or participate in deals.
St Brigid’s trade mission and the San Francisco trip
AwakenHub and AwakenAngels are now inviting expressions of interest for a St Brigid’s Day Trade Mission in February 2026, intended to connect Irish women founders and investors with diaspora networks, investors and partners in the US. Expressions of interest are being taken via awakenhub.com.
The invitation follows the organisations’ first joint trade mission to San Francisco last week. Delegates included Eve Mobility, Kowroo, KAIDRON powered by Beauty Buddy, StimOxyGen and Silver Apples Digital. Activities ranged from an Irish Tech Pitch Night to meetings with Neale Richmond, Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, and an AwakenAngels showcase hosted by Micheál Smith, Consul General of Ireland in San Francisco. Delegates also met Suzanne Rice, who serves as AwakenAngels Diaspora Ambassador and is listed among Silicon Valley’s Top 100 Women of Influence.
The bigger picture
AwakenAngels’ figures feed into a wider narrative about gaps in early‑stage funding and the role of targeted syndicates in addressing them. By combining membership, training and deal leadership, the group aims to turn investor interest into repeatable capital deployment for women founders across the island of Ireland.
For the UK and wider European ecosystem, initiatives like AwakenAngels show how regional, community‑centred models can open angel investing to new demographics and connect local founders to international markets and diaspora networks. If the syndicate continues to convert training into active capital, it could serve as a model for other markets trying to widen the pool of both founders and investors.
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