KPMG has announced the judging panel for the Irish round of the Global Tech Innovator competition, now in its fifth year.
The ultimate winner from Ireland will advance to the global finals in November along with representatives from 21 other nations.
Tech start-ups based in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are encouraged to submit their applications for this competition before the deadline at midnight on Friday, May 30th, 2025.
This year's KPMG Global Tech Innovator competition will be hosted again by award-winning tech journalist and broadcaster Jess Kelly.
As the host of Tech Talk on Newstalk, Ireland's only national radio show dedicated to technology, Jess brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to the competition.
This year’s judges are:
Anna Scally, Partner, Head of Technology Media & Telecoms, KPMG Ireland and EMA
Anna is a tax partner at KPMG Ireland. She is also KPMG’s Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) Sector Leader in Ireland and EMA.
She is passionate about innovation and scaling ambitious start-ups. She advises many early-stage companies on a wide range of tax matters including fundraising, group structuring, rewarding founders, incentivising employees, growing global operations & M&A.
Anna’s clients include companies in the technology, media, telecommunications, fintech, pharmaceutical and life-sciences sectors.
Jamie Heaslip – Strategic Growth lead for Stripe in Ireland and the UK
Jamie is the Strategic Growth Lead for Stripe in Ireland and the UK, a financial infrastructure platform.
He helps companies of all sizes use Stripe to launch new business models, enter new markets, and accelerate their growth.
Jamie is a former Ireland rugby captain and business/start-up investor, backing companies like Grandslam Bars, Pointy, Kitman Labs & Limbo to name a few and mentor to founders starting out on their journey.
He holds an MBA and a degree in Medical Engineering.
Peter Coppinger Founder & CEO of Success.co and former co-founder and CEO of Teamwork.com
Peter is a serial software entrepreneur with a hands-on approach, currently focused on 'local-first' and AI technology.
As Founder & CEO of Success.co and former co-founder and CEO of Teamwork.com, he is on a mission to make Ireland more 'SaaSy'—driving the success of homegrown SaaS companies that create wealth and global impact.
A 2018 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® Ireland winner, Peter combines deep technical expertise with a relentless drive to put Ireland on the map as a SaaS powerhouse.
Debbie Rennick – General Partner, Act Venture Capital Limited
Debbie is a General Partner in Act Venture Capital Limited, one of Ireland’s leading venture capital firms having raised over €600m in funds and generated €4.6bn of exit value from companies sold to date.
Act is a multi-stage investor – investing in seed, Series A and B stage technology companies with investments ranging from €500k up to €10m.
Investment sectors are primarily in Information Communication Technology (ICT) including AI, Deeptech, Climate & Sustainability, Digital Health, CyberSecurity. Fintech and Digitalisation.
Debbie has a degree in Civil Law and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. Prior to her career in Act, Debbie worked in corporate finance with KPMG specialising in fundraising and M&A.
Aileen Hayes, Commercial and customer leader, and MD of Endeavor Ireland
Aileen is the Managing Director of Endeavor Ireland. Endeavor is a global network for fast-scaling high-impact entrepreneurs with 17 founder members in Ireland from Wayflyer to Cubic Telecom and Sculpted by Aimee.
The Endeavor team finds and selects the fastest growing, highest potential founders on the island of Ireland into the network, and once members, supports them to scale and pay it forward using that local and global support.
Aileen joined Endeavor with a commercial background and experience in both large and entrepreneurial organisations.
Most recently, she was Director of Commercial Growth & Astronaut Readiness with Virgin Galactic, the world's first spaceline, building their sales engine and lead community.
Other past experience including management consulting with Oliver Wyman in the UK, working on the launch of Ireland’s first National Sustainability Accelerator, 2050, and supporting early-stage startup fundraising.
Commenting on the judging panel, Anna Scally, Partner, Head of Technology Media & Telecoms, KPMG Ireland and EMA, said, "We are delighted to welcome an exceptional panel of judges to this year's competition.
“With their diverse backgrounds in investment, leadership, and advisory roles, we are confident in our ability to pinpoint Ireland's next top tech innovator."
Global Tech Innovator 2025 is open to Irish tech entrepreneurs and start-ups businesses which are pure technology, tech-enabled, tech-led or tech-driven.
Irish competition entrants will be shortlisted and invited to pitch their innovations and present their growth ambitions to the judging panel and all entrants must be available to appear in person for the Ireland final, which will be held in Dublin on June 17th June 2025.
The competition is open to all technology or technology-enabled companies which have operated for seven years or less, have generated revenue of between USD $1-15m (or have raised at least $500,000 in equity) and are registered and based in Ireland or Northern Ireland.
Find out more about the competition at www.kpmg.ie/GTI
Photo: Jamie Heaslip
