Experienced tech sector executive Kieran Dalton has joined Catalyst as Head of Scaling, a new role that has been created for the purpose of helping ambitious, innovation driven companies in Northern Ireland to scale up beyond £10m in revenues.
Catalyst is an independent, not-for-profit organisation focused on fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, supporting transformative businesses and developing Northern Ireland’s tech industry.
Kieran has spent almost 40 years in the industry working for a range of companies such as Aepona, BTI Systems and F5. He has held executive roles in companies backed by venture capital funds, several which have been involved in M&A and others that have had successful and unsuccessful experiences of growth.
In his new role, Kieran will support the CEOs and founders of startups and scaleups in Northern Ireland to help them to fulfil their potential.
Kieran Dalton said: “We are great at creating companies in Northern Ireland, but more emphasis needs to be placed on preparing these companies to grow and giving them the tools and connections to successfully scale up. Too often, we see companies acquired before they reach their full potential because they don’t have the necessary skills and experience to keep growing themselves. We want to change this and help more businesses make that journey from startup to major industrial company.”
In order to ensure companies are ready for growth and have the capability to scale, Catalyst will be adding new elements to its programmes, including more executive coaching and sales coaching. Catalyst believes local companies need a bigger network and a wider skillset if they want to sustain growth and in his new role Kieran will support them on that journey.
Steve Orr, CEO of Catalyst, said: “We’re really pleased to have Kieran joining the team and bringing his wide skillset and experience to Catalyst. One of our main goals is to help companies grow and have the capability to scale. We want to focus on how to grow companies not to £5m or £6m valuations, but to beyond £10m and even £100m, allowing them to operate on a more global scale and in turn providing a major boost to the local economy. I have no doubt that Kieran will help us make a major step towards that goal.”
