AwakenHub, a Social Enterprise organisation that supports women founders on the Island of Ireland, hosted a showcase event on May 23, 2023, featuring six pitches from the participants of its SheGenerate 2.0 programme. The programme, which ran for eight months, aimed to help women entrepreneurs develop their business ideas and skills through mentoring, workshops and peer support.

The showcase event was attended by over 100 guests, including investors, media and industry experts. The audience voted for their favourite pitch and the winner of the £500 prize was Nicole O'Connor co-founder of Learning Me, an edtech platform. The runners-up were Emma McClenaghan co-founder of Genysys Engine, Siobhán Dee founder of Diabetes App, Catherine King founder of Lifecells Northern Ireland, Mary McIntaggart founder of AcademicFish and Dr Zara Quail Co-founder of NewToo by Hippl.

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The event also featured a panel discussion with some of the leading figures in the Irish startup ecosystem, including lead sponsor of SheGen2.0 Adam Griffiths from Taylor Wessing (Ireland) and other programme partners John Ferris from Ulster Bank Northern Ireland - Business, Roisin McDermott from Women in Business NI, Fiona Bennington from Catalyst NI and Susan McKane from British Business Bank. The panellists shared their insights and advice on how to succeed as a woman founder in a competitive and male-dominated market.

"We are delighted with the outcome of the showcase event and the positive feedback we received from the attendees. We are very proud of all the women who pitched their ideas and showed their passion and potential. We hope this event will inspire more women to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams and join our community," said Clare McGee co-founder AwakenHub.

Established in July 2020, AwakenHub is the only all-island women founders community in Ireland, with 3,000 subscribers and a prominent presence in the founder ecosystem. As a registered social enterprise, AwakenHub's mission is to remove barriers to investment, scale, and success for all founders. The organization hosts online community events, in-person meetups, and curates a closed online community called AwakenClub for women seeking to build viable and scalable businesses. Its sister company, AwakenAngels, is soon launching an all-island women-led angel investor syndicate, investing in women-founded businesses.

The organisation is now accepting expressions of interest for its next programme, SheGenerate 3.0, which will start in November 2023. Interested women can apply online at SheGenerate 3.0 — AwakenHub