Moving to another country to start a business can be very daunting. Here, five women who moved to Ireland and successfully started their own business, share their experiences.
Leslie Maliepaard
Leslie is the founder of Fortrino Ltd., a boutique investment office based in Dublin. Fortrino invests and supports entrepreneurs in high potential startups across Europe. The company is “sector agnostic and focuses on IoT technologies in the MedTech, AgriTech, cybersecurity and InduTech industries”. Leslie moved to Dublin from South Africa in March 2016 and like every overseas move, it was daunting and she doubted if she was making the right decision
“I find Ireland a very helpful and friendly country. It’s a lot easier to do business here than in South Africa. You have to get through your first year before you really find your feet. I think once you survey and learn the ins and outs of the startup scene, you will find that there is a lot of support from government, ecosystem partners, community and individuals in Ireland.”
“After surveying the Irish and European landscape, I made a decision to follow my passions around helping IoT startups that concentrate on discovering solutions that solve critical problems the world is facing. Once again the sectors we concentrate on are health and environmental sciences and our aim is to help accelerate new discoveries and innovations for the benefit of improving environmental and human health globally.”
Ashlee Chin
Ashlee is the chief operations officer of K.C Consulting, a specialist Asian marketing and channel development agency. Ashlee helps companies of all sizes to plan and implement their Asian marketing projects by assessing new Asian markets and improving their Asian marketing presence. She is also the head of events for the Irish Chinese Society Galway, a non-profit organisation in the West of Ireland.
Following the introduction of the One
