Northern Ireland women tech entrepreneurs have come out winning two out of three prizes at the recent TechFoundHer Summit 2025 Breakthrough Awards – sponsored by InterTradeIreland.
The inaugural TechFoundHer Breakthrough awards recognised women founders who participated in the TechFoundHer Innovation Labs programme last year.
TechFoundHer is a platform supporting women tech founders across Ireland and Northern Ireland and was founded by Co Down businesswoman Máirín Murray.
Awards were presented at the Women Innovators Rise event during the TechFoundHer Summit 2025 at the Mansion House in Dublin recently in front of over 300 attendees including global leaders in technology, innovation, and investment.
The annual summit gives the local and global community the chance to support the TechFoundHer mission to accelerate the visibility and success of women-led tech ventures.
Announced by Elaine Patterson, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme Manager at InterTradeIreland, the winners were selected by a judging panel including Professor Maura McAdam and Dr Lollie Mancey.
Speaking at the TechFoundHer Summit 2025, Elaine revealed: “Today’s Breakthrough Awards celebrate the remarkable achievements of our TechFoundHer Innovation Labs participants – women who, as part of the Shared Island Enterprise Scheme’s ‘Women Entrepreneurship’ pilot programmes, have turned bold ideas into working prototypes, secured vital funding, and generated real momentum.
“It’s crucial that women innovators are recognised and placed in the spotlight, and these awards underscore how hands-on programmes like Innovation Labs can accelerate diverse tech solutions, offer invaluable networking opportunities, and drive lasting impact.”
Winners at the event represented some of the most promising tech founders who are progressing impact driven solutions from across Ireland and Northern Ireland.
They include Fermanagh entrepreneur Shelley Cowan, founder of Travel Ease, an inclusive travel tech platform improving accessibility for travellers with disabilities through verified accommodation grading.
“TechFoundHer gave me more than a toolkit, it gave me a voice. As a disabled founder, I’ve often felt unheard in tech spaces” said Shelley, adding: “The Innovation Labs empowered me to lead confidently, value my perspective, and position Travel Ease as a solution driven by purpose and authenticity. It amplified my voice and helped me shape a startup that is both scalable and deeply human.”
Northern Ireland picked up two of the awards with Co Antrim entrepreneur Claire Brannigan, founder of Skinakin also collecting an award on the night. Skinakin is a pioneering solution supporting families and clinicians managing childhood eczema through therapeutic products and data insights.
“The Innovation Labs Programme helped me define the vision and technical roadmap for Skinakin. It expanded my view of what’s possible, giving me the confidence, support, and tools to build a venture with long-term impact that helps families like my own” said Claire.
Also picking up an award was Dublin tech founder Victoria Finlay, founder of MenoPal, an AI-powered healthtech solution transforming how over a billion women worldwide manage perimenopause and menopause symptoms.
Mairin explained programmes like Innovation Labs helped shine a light on the stellar work being done by women entrepreneurs across the island.
She added: “The awards spotlight the significant progress these women have made in just 12 weeks – proving the power of the redesigned and reimagined innovation support provided by the Innovation Labs programme that is supported and led by InterTradeIreland through the Shared Island Enterprise Scheme, in collaboration with Invest Northern Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, and which harnesses AI tools and focuses on building the tech solution.”
The TechFoundHer Summit 2025 was sponsored for the third consecutive year by Dublin City Council as the Headline Sponsor, with InterTradeIreland on board as Lead Sponsor.
Network Sponsors included U.S. Bank Europe and Enterprise Ireland, while WITS (Women in Technology & Science Ireland), BlockW, and Nigma MVP Development Specialists joined as Catalyst Sponsors, providing crucial support to help drive TechFoundHer’s mission forward.
For more information on how you can get involved with TechFoundHer and its programmes go to techfoundher.com