'A tremendous privilege': Northern Ireland entrepreneur makes history in Europe and ranks among UK tech’s most influential women
Mary McKenna becomes the first Irish woman elected to the board of the European Business Angels Network, while also ranking fifth in Computer Weekly’s 50 Most Influential Women in UK Tech list
Co Tyrone entrepreneur and AwakenAngels co-founder and chair Mary McKenna has become the first Irish woman elected to the European Business Angels Network (EBAN) board, while also securing fifth place on Computer Weekly’s 50 Most Influential Women in UK Tech list.
The EBAN board announced her appointment in Luxembourg ahead of the 2026 European Angel Investment Summit. EBAN is one of Europe’s leading organisations representing early-stage investors, bringing together more than 130 member organisations across more than 50 countries. Its network represents more than 15,000 individual investors and plays a significant role in shaping the investment landscape for Europe’s start-ups and high-growth businesses.
Joining Mary in the top five of Computer Weekly’s 50 Most Influential Women in UK Tech list are Blaise Metreweli, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), and Angela McLean, chief scientific adviser to the UK Government. Clare McGee, McKenna’s co-founder and chief executive of AwakenAngels and AwakenHub, who is from Londonderry, has also been named a Woman to Watch by Computer Weekly, recognising her potential to make a significant impact in the coming years.
Originally from Dungannon, Mary co-founded successful online learning business Learning Pool before selling the company in 2014. She now supports early-stage founders and scaling ventures across Europe and has invested in more than 45 technology start-ups.
In 2020, she co-founded AwakenHub, Ireland’s only all-island female founder community, before launching AwakenAngels, Ireland’s first women-led angel investing syndicate, to tackle the barriers Irish women face in securing early-stage investment.
The first recipient of a Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) Fellowship at Ulster University Business School, McKenna is also an EiR at Oxford University. She holds the titles of European Female Business Angel of the Year 2023/24 and UK Angel of the Year 2023/24, serves as an innovation expert for the EU’s €9bn EIC Accelerator and was awarded an MBE in 2014 for services to digital technology, innovation and learning.
She secured her place on the EBAN board on a platform focused on strengthening cross-border investment and connecting angel investors and capital across Europe. She has also pledged to broaden participation in angel investing, particularly among women and other underrepresented groups, and to build stronger links between early-stage investors, entrepreneurs and follow-on capital.
Her work aims to address one of the most persistent challenges facing ambitious European start-ups: securing the investment needed to grow.
Speaking after her election to the EBAN board, she said: “EBAN represents a sector investing more than €1.22 billion annually into SMEs, and so it has a vital role to play in Europe’s economic future. Being elected to its board is a tremendous privilege, and I am particularly honoured to be the first Irish woman to hold the position.
"In my daily work with AwakenAngels and AwakenHub, I see how geography, fragmented networks, and other funding barriers hold back exceptional women founders, so this is a really important time for me to join the EBAN team.
“I also know from our work, however, that it is possible to move the dial when the right people with the right attitudes get in the room together, and thankfully, EBAN has many of those people on board. I’m determined to continue to make it easier for women founders to access funding, strengthen cross-border collaboration, improve education opportunities for angel investors, and make it easier for companies to access early-stage funding by broadening participation in angel investing.”
Following the announcement, Martin Skea, director general of EBAN, explained: “Mary McKenna brings deep angel investing experience and a strong commitment to widening access to early-stage capital. Through AwakenAngels, she has built an all-island, cross-border network that engages the Irish investor diaspora and opens the door to more women business angels. We’re delighted to have her on the EBAN Board for 2026-2028.”
Clare McGee, co-founder and chief executive of AwakenAngels and AwakenHub, added: “Mary McKenna’s appointment to the board of EBAN is really significant for women entrepreneurs across Ireland and Europe. She brings first-hand experience and will be a strong voice for women whose companies are growing faster than ever, generating billions in turnover and creating millions of jobs, yet still face many different barriers to accessing funding that limit their future potential.
“I know that EBAN’s ambition to achieve 30% female representation across angel networks by 2030 and to encourage investors to allocate at least 30% of their capital to women-led businesses will be well served by Mary’s passion for her new role.”
Her election to the EBAN board was announced in Luxembourg ahead of this week’s 2026 European Angel Investment Summit, which takes place alongside Luxembourg Venture Days.
Organised by EBAN in partnership with the InvestEU Portal and the European Commission, the summit brings together angel investors, venture capital representatives, entrepreneurs and policymakers to explore how Europe can better support businesses from start-up to scale-up.