AwakenAngels Co-Founder Mary McKenna Becomes First Irish Woman on EBAN Board

Mary McKenna, co-founder and chair of AwakenAngels, has become the first Irish woman elected to the European Business Angels Network (EBAN) Board, an appointment announced in Luxembourg ahead of the 2026 European Angel Investment Summit. Sync NI reported the appointment. McKenna also placed fifth on Computer Weekly's 50 Most Influential Women in UK Tech list.

McKenna's EBAN Board Election and Computer Weekly Ranking

EBAN represents more than 130 member organisations across over 50 countries and more than 15,000 individual investors. McKenna secured her board position on a platform focused on strengthening cross-border investment and connecting angel investors and capital across Europe. She pledged to broaden participation in angel investing, particularly among women and other underrepresented groups, and to build stronger pathways between early-stage investors, entrepreneurs, and follow-on capital.

McKenna 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."

Martin Skea, Director General of EBAN, said McKenna brings deep angel investing experience and a commitment to widening access to early-stage capital. Skea said she has built an all-island, cross-border network through AwakenAngels that engages the Irish investor diaspora and opens the door to more women business angels. McKenna joins the EBAN Board for 2026-2028.

Clare McGee, co-founder and CEO of AwakenAngels and AwakenHub, was named a Woman to Watch by Computer Weekly. McGee said McKenna's appointment is significant for women entrepreneurs across Ireland and Europe and noted 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.

AwakenAngels' Syndicate Growth and Training Record

AwakenAngels is a women-led angel investment syndicate based in Derry, Northern Ireland, enabling women to co-invest from £2,000 per deal in pre-seed and seed-stage women-founded businesses on the island of Ireland, according to akta.pro company records. The syndicate's membership doubled to 118 investors in the past year, 90% women. AwakenAngels has helped eight portfolio companies secure more than €4.3 million in investment since formation in 2023, with four additional syndicate deals set to close. The organisation trained 57 new angel investors in its first year, with 132 women to be trained by end of March 2025 via its Investor Academy.

European Angel Investment Summit in Luxembourg

The 2026 European Angel Investment Summit takes place alongside Luxembourg Venture Days. EBAN organised the summit in partnership with the InvestEU Portal and the European Commission. The summit brings together angel investors, venture capital representatives, entrepreneurs and policymakers to examine how Europe can better support businesses from start-up through to scale-up.