Digital Irish Podcast

About Digital Irish Podcast

Digital Irish celebrates Irish innovation and the Irish startup ecosystem: connecting founders, investors, and innovators across Ireland, the diaspora, and beyond. Each episode features candid conversations with VCs, entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders sharing the real story behind building companies: the setbacks, the playbooks, and the lessons you don't find in press releases. Whether you're plugged into the Irish startup scene or part of the Irish community abroad, Digital Irish is your window into one of the world's most connected startup communities.

Publisher

Digital Irish

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Oct 2019

Latest episode

1 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

94 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Sept 2026

   Managed Serendipity: Inside the Guinness Enterprise Centre with Niamh Collins

   GEC 25 Year Impact Report: https://www.gec.ie/impact-report (https://www.gec.ie/impact-report) Niamh Collins has spent more than 15 years inside Ireland's startup ecosystem, and for the last three she has run the Guinness Enterprise Centre — one of Ireland's first enterprise hubs and now one of its largest, home to over 160 companies across five floors of a former Guinness hop store in the Liberties. Her vantage point is the connective tissue of the ecosystem: the introductions, signposting and supports that turn a founder with an idea into a company selling into the US, the UK and Europe. In this conversation, we get into: What "managed serendipity" looks like in practice — how one founder's presentation to a visiting Tampa Bay delegation turned into a new customer, a research partner and a US investor introduction The supports most Irish founders don't know exist — monthly Local Enterprise Office clinics, Mentoring for Scale, and soft-landing agreements with hubs in the UK, US and Europe What 25 years of the GEC adds up to — 1,300+ companies through the doors, and approximately €140M in turnover and €73M+ in exports from GEC companies last year alone What "graduating" really means — Urban Fox's €8M raise, Mobility Mojo's €4.2M, and why the GEC doesn't say goodbye, just "see you for a while" The role of the Irish diaspora — mentoring, investing, opening doors, and Niamh's open invitation to the Digital Irish community If you're an Irish founder — or part of the diaspora wondering how to help from abroad — this episode is a map of the ecosystem behind Ireland's startup success. Niamh Collins has served as Centre Director of the Guinness Enterprise Centre since 2023. She brings over 15 years’ experience within Ireland’s startup ecosystem, with a strong track record of supporting early-stage companies to grow and scale through incubation, acceleration, and tailored business support programmes. Prior to joining the GEC, she was Director of the NovaUCD AgTech Innovation Centre and previously held the role of Chief Operating Officer at the DCU Ryan Academy. The Guinness Enterprise Centre is Ireland’s largest enterprise campus, located in Dublin 8, and is home to 160 companies ranging from individual founders to established scaling teams. These companies operate across a diverse range of sectors, including digital health, medtech, technology, sustainability, aviation, professional services. The Centre provides a combination of co-working and private office space, alongside a comprehensive suite of business supports, programmes, and advisory clinics designed to enable growth, innovation, and international expansion. Want to get in contact with the Digital Irish team? Email us at podcast@digitalirish.com

2. 

   25 Aug 2026

   A World Beyond Humanitarian Crisis, with Bernard McCaul, Goal

   Bernard McCaul has spent almost twenty years inside GOAL, the Irish humanitarian agency founded nearly fifty years ago when sports journalist John O'Shea came home from Kolkata and decided to act. Bernard has been on the ground for the Asian tsunami, the Haiti earthquake, and the West Africa Ebola outbreak, and he is now part of the team growing GOAL's presence in the US. That vantage point — twenty years at the sharp end of the world's worst crises — makes this a conversation about how humanitarian aid actually works, not how people assume it works.In this conversation, we get into: Sierra Leone, 2014: what it takes to head for the epicenter of an Ebola outbreak while others are leaving — and how the Community-Led Action approach born there became a national tool that turned Sierra Leone into a leader in outbreak response. The AI chatbots GOAL built with Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health during the recent mpox outbreak — sharing official information with at-risk communities and feeding live data back to responders — now being deployed to the Ebola response in Central Africa. Why crises happen when local systems collapse, and why aid delivered without understanding those systems can do more harm than good. What people get wrong about aid — including how the outbreak of war, not aid failure, set Sudan back thirty years. Bernard's case for hope: near-universal internet access is coming, and early warning systems protecting every person on the planet are genuinely achievable. If you're part of the Irish diaspora and want to see what fifty years of Irish humanitarian leadership looks like on the ground — and where it goes next — this one is worth your time. About Bernard McCaul Bernard McCaul is GOAL USA’s Executive Director and has been with GOAL for almost twenty years, much of that leading the organisation's work in Latin America, with senior roles spanning programme leadership across GOAL's global operations. He has been part of GOAL's responses to the 2004 Asian tsunami, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and the 2014–15 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. He is now with GOAL USA, supporting the organisation's growth in North America. About GOAL GOAL is an organization of humanitarian crisis experts founded in Ireland almost fifty years ago by sports journalist John O'Shea. It responds to the world's most significant humanitarian crises — both sudden-onset emergencies and protracted crises — and has worked across almost sixty countries, with a mission to save lives, reduce suffering, and build resilience, and a vision of a world beyond humanitarian crisis. GOAL runs an Innovation Lab and Innovation Fund backing solutions like AI-driven disease surveillance, and GOAL USA is a registered charity partner of the New York and Chicago Marathons. Supporters can also take part in the GOAL Mile in Ireland, join immersive site visits to programmes on the ground, or donate at goalus.org and goalglobal.org. Want to get in contact with the Digital Irish team? Email us at podcast@digitalirish.com

3. 

   11 Aug 2026

   The 12-Hour Flight Test: Backing the Right Founders with Fergal Mullen

   Fergal Mullen left Ireland at 18 on an athletics scholarship and has spent 25 years in venture — first inside a NASDAQ-listed consultancy, then at Highland Capital Partners in Boston, before spinning out its European arm in 2012 to co-found Highland Europe. The firm now manages close to €4 billion, sees around 3,000 companies a year, and invests in seven or eight. Very few people can tell founders what happens on the other side of the table with that much of a funnel behind them. In this conversation, we get into: What “coachable founder” actually means — and why the softest criterion on Highland Europe’s list is the one that decides. The bar for a growth-stage cheque: €10M+ revenue, 50%+ growth, and unit economics that treat investors’ capital with respect. Why Highland Europe scrapped the Monday partner pitch and meets founders at their own offices — and what they read from how you treat your team. The pitch that won an investment without a single slide. How the firm separates foundational AI businesses from wrappers a single model release could erase. If you’re an Irish founder — raising now or a few years out — this episode is a look at exactly what the other side of the table is checking for. Fergal Mullen is a co-founder and Partner at Highland Europe, the growth-stage technology investment firm based in London and Geneva. Prior to founding Highland Europe, Fergal was a Partner at Highland Capital Partners, where he launched the firm’s European investment program in 2007. Over the course of his career, Fergal has been involved with a number of leading technology companies, including Coremetrics (acquired by IBM), GlassesDirect (acquired by Essilor), Wooga (acquired by Playtika), Finanzcheck (acquired by Scout24), Privalia (acquired by Veepee), PhotoBox (acquired by Exponent Private Equity and Electra Partners), He has also been involved with VistaPrint (NASDAQ IPO), AMCS Group (acquired by EQT), and Nexthink (acquired by Vista Equity Partners). Earlier in his career, Fergal was a founding partner of RSA Ventures, the corporate venture arm of RSA Security. Before that, he was a founder and Senior Vice President of Cambridge Technology Partners (NASDAQ: CATP), where he served on the firm’s Global Executive Committee. Fergal attended Harvard Business School where he earned his MBA and Brown University where he earned a BSc in Electrical Engineering and a BA in Business Economics. Highland Europe is a growth-stage technology investment firm with offices in London and Geneva. Founded in 2012, the firm backs European software and consumer internet companies that have established product-market fit — typically €10 million or more in revenue, growing 50%+ — with cheques of €30–70 million. Highland Europe has backed close to 100 companies, holds around 60 in its current portfolio, and manages nearly €4 billion across six funds. Want to get in contact with the Digital Irish team? Email us at podcast@digitalirish.com About Fergal MullenAbout Highland Europe

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

4.3 / 5

6 ratings

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

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