Tangent launches new mentoring programme for student startups

Posted on: 09 April 2021

Tangent, Trinity’s Ideas Workspace, has launched a new mentoring programme supporting Trinity students and their startups.

The Tangent Experts programme will provide access to a comprehensive network of entrepreneurs and industry leaders who are volunteering their time and expertise to these early-stage startups. The Tangent Experts will support student entrepreneurs building early-stage startups by providing them with advice from leaders in crucial fields.

Ken Finnegan, CEO, Tangent Trinity’s Ideas Workspace, says:

“We are incredibly excited for the students. We want to empower the next generation of leaders and we know that for up-and-coming entrepreneurs, the right guidance can be priceless and that’s why we’ve set up the Tangent Experts programme. We have a host of top experts offering their time, and for this we are incredibly grateful – this really is a once in a lifetime opportunity for students at Trinity. We’d encourage anyone who is interested to get in touch.”

The Tangent Experts programme will run year-round for student entrepreneurs who seek expert advice and support. Trinity students with a startup can book in with the Tangent Experts now.

Meet the experts:

Expert in Tech for Good – Aisling Byrne 

Aisling is the founder and CEO of Nuw, the social network to swap preloved fashion. She graduated from Trinity in 2015 and worked in media before starting Nuw which now operates across Ireland and the UK. She is particularly interested in supporting impact businesses and female founders.

Expert in Investor Readiness – Alison Crawford 

Alison joined Atlantic Bridge in 2017 where she works on sourcing, evaluating and executing investments, primarily for the University Bridge Fund. Alison is experienced in leading investments into various sectors including technology and has been a non-executive director for several early stage and growing companies. Alison previously worked with KPMG Advisory and is a graduate of Business & Law in University College Dublin.

Expert in Investor Readiness – David Scanlon 

David has been involved with digital technology and startups throughout his career. David spent over a decade working for Enterprise Ireland across a variety of roles, most recently involved with the innovative Start in Ireland programme, designed to attract HPSU companies to Ireland from overseas. David was the Dublin Chapter Director for Startup Grind, the global entrepreneurship community. Alongside running monthly Startup Grind events for four years, David has also hosted and moderated a wide variety of events aimed at educating entrepreneurs and developing innovation ecosystems, including Dublin Web Summit, InspireFest, LaunchBox, and multiple Startup Weekend events. Prior to launching Resolve Partners, a Dublin-based innovation consultancy, David was a member of the venture team at NDRC, investing in and building some of Ireland’s leading early-stage startups.

Expert in Fintech – David Tighe 

Dave has spent 18 years in Retail Banking in Ireland after graduating from Trinity College and joining the Bank of Ireland Graduate Programme in 2000. David also holds an MBA from Manchester Business School and is a Chartered Banker with the Institute of Bankers. He has extensive experience across digital banking, the payments industry and innovation in financial products. He has been responsible for Credit Card, Deposits and Current Account product strategies and has delivered multiple new retail products to the Irish market. In his recent roles in Bank of Ireland as Head of Innovation and Design he focused on developing long term planning, consumer behaviour changes, market planning and incubation and the integration of fintech and innovative start-ups. He was responsible for Bank of Ireland workbench and Startlab initiatives which incubated and supported the vibrant tech ecosystem across Ireland. He is also been responsible for the Bank of Ireland Enterprise programme supporting business and community growth in Ireland through National Enterprise Towns and Awards and the digital platform Thinkbusiness.ie.

Expert in Incorporation and Business Planning – Gríana O’Kelly

Gríana O’Kelly advises Irish and international clients across many sectors on a broad range of corporate transactions including M&A, debt and equity investment, corporate restructures and joint ventures.Gríana also advises start-up businesses from incorporation through early seed funding up to consolidation of their business. With over 13 years of experience, Gríana is recognised by the Legal 500 for her excellent communication skills and her ability to understand the client’s business environment.

Expert in Incorporation and Business Planning – Jason Bradshaw 

Jason is a Fellow Chartered Accountant, having qualified in 2002 and completed a Management study programme with Harvard Business School in 2008. Jason has more than 18 years’ experience specialising in Corporate Finance and completed the second highest number of transactions in Ireland in 2019. He has assisted clients in the areas of new business startup’s, mergers, fundraisings, acquisitions and disposals. He has also undertaken a broad range of business valuations. Jason has assisted a large number of clients with Enterprise Ireland funding and advised on some very successful company buy-outs.

Expert in Startup Community – Machaela O’Leary

Machaela is a community builder, her strengths are in storytelling and bringing new opportunities to life. People buy your product, not because of what it does, but because of what you believe in. Machaela is a Trinity Alumna in Computer Science, Linguistics and French, she’s the co-Founder of HPSU backed EdTech Startup, and is the current Campus Manager for Talent Garden, Europe’s largest network of coworking campuses.

Expert in Branding – Niall Murphy 

Niall Murphy is an advertising creative. The way he explains this to his mammy is that he writes the words that the people in the ads say, but he is not actually in the ads. He has worked in three (or as he would say on his CV ‘many’) of Dublin’s advertising agencies (or ‘top advertising agencies’), and now manages the in-house creative team in Paddy Power Betfair.

Expert in Tax – Shane Kerins

Shane is a Senior Tax manager in PwC Dublin, with a focus on providing tax consulting advice to private clients, private business and entrepreneurs. He is also heavily involved with PwC’s start up/scale up team.Shane assists companies with tax planning opportunities, consulting and compliance matters, including various issues relating to start ups and scaling companies.

Find out more and sign up here.