Diane Roberts is a growth strategy consultant with extensive expertise in startup development, business scaling, building international growth plans, and securing funding. She is also a board member and a speaker on enterprise challenges.
Diane began her career in international technology sales and marketing, amassing over 25 years of valuable industry experience in developing new businesses across the UK, USA, Europe, and the Asia Pacific.
From 2002 to 2007, Diane lived and worked in Silicon Valley as the West Coast Director and Manager of Enterprise Ireland’s US Software and Services team. During this period, she built a strong network of contacts and gained in-depth insight into leading technology companies and the world’s largest venture capital community.
From 2009 to 2012, Diane served as the inaugural National Director for HBAN (Halos for Business Angels Network), Ireland’s angel investment network. In this role, she established six angel syndicates and facilitated over €4 million in seed equity investments for technology startups. Additionally, from 2009 to 2016, she was the Programme Director for the Invest NI Propel Programme, Northern Ireland’s leading startup accelerator. Here, she oversaw the development of more than 100 companies, helping them secure £15 million in equity funding and creating over 500 jobs (and counting).
Since its founding in 2007, Diane has led XPinnovates to become one of Ireland’s most successful consultancy and advisory firms for new business ventures.
As a seasoned business mentor, Diane has earned a reputation as a respected advisor and senior executive coach to hundreds of startup companies. Over the past decade, she has also been a resident mentor in the Enterprise Ireland International Selling Programme.
Diane holds a BA in Business Studies and an MA in Modern History from Queen’s University Belfast. She also attended the Leadership for Growth Program at Stanford University.