KPMG Announces Stellar Judging Panel for Fourth Global Tech Innovator Competition

KPMG has revealed the esteemed judging panel for the Irish round of its fourth annual Global Tech Innovator competition. The winner will represent Ireland, competing against 22 other countries in the global final in November. The competition is accepting applications from tech start-ups in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland until midnight on Friday, May 31st, 2024.

This year’s KPMG Global Tech Innovator competition will be hosted 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.

The Judges

The judging panel comprises of industry leaders, including investors, founders, and advisors, all with significant expertise in the tech sector. Alan Bromell, Head of Private Enterprise at KPMG, said: “We’re thrilled to have such an outstanding panel of judges for this year’s competition. Their diverse expertise, spanning investment, leadership, and advisory roles, ensures we are well-equipped to identify Ireland’s next top tech innovator.”

Will Prendergast, Partner and Co-founder, Frontline

Will is a Partner on Frontline Venture’s European Seed fund and co-founded the firm in 2012. He has since led over 25 investments at Frontline and has a particular interest in backing mission-driven founders building in Ireland, the Netherlands and DACH region, and supporting them to expand stateside. He has lived and worked in the U.S. himself and continues to spend significant time there to develop investor and corporate relationships for the benefit of Frontline’s portfolio.

Dr. Patricia Scanlon, Founder Soapbox Labs

Patricia holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Speech Recognition and a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering. Her 25 years’ experience in AI spans both academia and industry including roles at Columbia University, Bell Labs and IBM. In 2013, she founded SoapBox Labs, the world’s leading provider of ethical Voice AI for children which was acquired by US based Curriculum Associates in 2023.

In 2022, Dr Scanlon was appointed Ireland’s first Artificial Intelligence Ambassador, to lead a national conversation on Artificial Intelligence, working with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. In 2023 she was appointed Chairperson of Ireland’s new expert AI Advisory Council providing the government with early foresight of emerging trends, challenges, risks and opportunities.

Eimear Hennessy, Global Head of Enterprise Services, Stripe

Eimear leads Stripe’s Global Enterprise Services, based in Dublin, Ireland. This team delivers Stripe’s proactive, preventative technical account management partnerships to Stripe’s largest Users. Her career spans 20 years across technology and engineering consulting. Building is the common thread in Eimear’ s career from the start of her career as a Civil Engineer through to joining Google in the 2nd decade of its existence building businesses, solutions and teams.

Now in Stripe she is heavily invested in building Stripe as it too enters its second decade of existence. Eimear’s experience is hugely diverse, having led organisations across Engineering (working in sectors such as Oil, Pharma, Nuclear power, Commercial construction) Advertising, Cloud, Publishing and now Fintech, working across Sales, Support, Partnerships, Project management and Strategy.

Barry Napier, CEO, Cubic Telecom

Barry has extensive experience and a proven track record in building innovative technology companies. Barry possesses a rare combination of leadership and skills in strategy, business and corporate development, well suited to establishing high performance teams to grow and transform technology organisations.

Most recently Barry led Cubic in a strategic partnership with Softbank Corp whereby they invested €473 million, valuing the company at over €900 million. Barry also holds board seats on a range of high-growth companies and was the first Irish entrepreneur selected for the Endeavour Leadership Programme.

Anna Scally, EMA Head of TMT Sector and Head of Technology & Media at KPMG in Ireland

Anna is KPMG’s EMA Head of the TMT Sector and a partner and head of technology and media at KPMG in Ireland. She is also a member of KPMG’s global technology, media & telecoms (TMT) Board. Anna sits on the Advisory Board of Scale Ireland, the not-for-profit representing Irish start-up and scale up companies, she is a founding director of the FinTech and Payments Association of Ireland (FPAI) and a former director and member of the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland.

She also leads KPMG’s involvement with Endeavor, the leading global community of, by and for high impact entrepreneurs. Anna is passionate about growing tech led companies with global ambition and works closely with leading Irish companies and their founders helping them achieve their ambitions.

Are you Ireland’s next tech innovator?

Global Tech Innovator 2024 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 18th, 2024.

The competition is open to all technology companies that have operated for five years or less, have generated revenue between $1m and $15m (or have raised at least $500,000 in equity), and are registered and based in Ireland or Northern Ireland.

The Irish winner will progress to the Global Tech Innovator final in November and the prize includes travel and accommodation to Lisbon and access to exclusive networking events and mentoring opportunities.

Find out more about the competition at www.kpmg.ie/GTI