Building the Irish Diaspora Venture Engine with Marius Smyth, Digital Irish Venture Fund

About this episode

Marius Smyth discusses the Digital Irish Venture Fund's approach to building a commercial venture ecosystem for the Irish diaspora.

In this episode, we sit down with Marius Smyth of the Digital Irish Venture Fund (DIVF) for a follow-up to our earlier conversations with Marty Loughlin. Where Marty walked us through how DIVF picks founders and the realities of pitching the fund, Marius zooms out to the layer underneath: how DIVF is building the Irish diaspora into a working venture ecosystem rather than relying on it as a goodwill network. He is leading the build-out of a physical “Green Room” for Irish founders in New York, architecting the fund’s co-investment strategy, and thinking hard about where a fund of DIVF’s size best fits in an industry increasingly polarised between mega-funds and solo angels. In this conversation, we get into: Why the Irish network is a sourcing engine, not just a hospitality network — and what DIVF is building to keep it commercial rather than a mutual appreciation society. How DIVF co-invests alongside other funds without becoming dependent on whoever is leading the round. Why the right place for an Irish venture fund right now is not at either end of the cheque-size spectrum, and where DIVF deliberately sits. The most practical first step for a founder coming out of Ireland with…

People in this episode

Guest: Marius Smyth

Topics covered

• Irish diaspora
• venture capital
• entrepreneurship
• co-investment strategy
• founder support
• venture ecosystem

Keywords

• Irish founders
• venture fund
• Green Room
• co-investment
• US market
• networking
• entrepreneurial ecosystem

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Digital Irish Venture Fund

Places: Ireland, New York

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• What Separates the Irish Companies That Land Well in the US with Michael O'Loughlin · May 21, 2026 · 1h 8m
• How Irish Founders Win Globally with Marty Loughlin, Digital Irish Venture Fund · May 6, 2026 · 41 min
• Funding is a Tool, Not the Finish Line with Jeremy Harper, ERA · April 30, 2026 · 53 min