Dublin’s first start-up czar is serial tech entrepreneur

One of the country’s leading entrepreneurs has been given the task of making Dublin the best place in Europe to start and grow a tech and innovation business.

Niamh Bushnell was yesterday confirmed as the first Dublin commissioner for start-ups. The role, which is funded by the DCU Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurs, will see her work with Dublin City Council and Enterprise Ireland to “maximise the potential of Dublin’s existing business ecosystem which already supports a wide range of tech and innovative start-ups, and acts as a base for many global tech companies”.

Ms Bushnell co-founded her first company, Pan Research, in Dublin in 1996. In 1998, she joined Enterprise Ireland’s New York office as vice president of software where her focus was on assisting Irish technology companies to gain entry and expand their businesses in the US market. In 2004, she moved back into the private sector joining Orbiscom, a Dublin-based payments technology company which was acquired by MasterCard International in 2009. She has also co-founded and run two US-based start-ups, TechResources and Idirus. Most recently, she has acted as entrepreneur in residence at Talent Tech Labs in Manhattan.