Elaine Coughlan facts for kids

Elaine Coughlan is an Irish business leader who helps new companies grow. She co-founded a company called Atlantic Bridge Capital. This company helps technology businesses around the world get money and grow bigger. She also helped start Summit Bridge Capital, which invests in Irish technology companies. Elaine has been recognized on many "Top Women" lists for her influence in business.

Elaine's Education Journey

Elaine Coughlan became a qualified accountant at just 18 years old. She received her diploma as a chartered accountant in 1991 from the National College of Ireland. Later, in 2012, she earned special diplomas in how companies are run, from the Institute of Directors and the Irish Management Institute in Dublin. She is also a qualified Chartered Director and a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Elaine's Career Path

Elaine started her career in 1986 at Ernst & Young, where she worked as a senior audit manager for eight years. From 1994 to 1996, she worked for CBT Systems in California. She helped them sell their company shares to the public for the first time on NASDAQ, which is a big stock market.

After that, she became the audit director for IONA Technologies. She also helped this company sell its shares to the public on NASDAQ in 1997. From 1999 to 2002, she worked at Parthus Technologies. She started as a corporate controller and moved up to vice president of finance, then became the chief financial officer (CFO). A CFO is the main person in charge of a company's money. She also helped Parthus sell its shares to the public in 2000. From 2002 to 2003, she was the CFO and secretary of CEVA, Inc..

In 2004, Elaine and three partners started Atlantic Bridge Capital. In 2006, she also co-founded GloNav, a technology company based in the United States with research and development (R&D) facilities in Ireland. GloNav was bought by NXP Semiconductor in 2007. Elaine then co-founded Summit Bridge Capital in January 2014.

Other Important Activities

In 2014, the Government of Ireland asked Elaine to join the board of Enterprise Ireland, which helps Irish businesses grow. She is also a member of the board of directors for several other companies and programs, including Acision and the DCU Ryan Academy Female Propellor program. In 2015, she was appointed to the board of the Institute of Directors in London.

Elaine often speaks at conferences about how the venture capital market works in Ireland and other countries. In an interview in May 2015, she shared her thoughts that the United States was a better place for startup companies than Ireland. She believed this was because Ireland had a higher capital gains tax, which is a tax on profits from selling investments.

Awards and Recognition

In 2014, Elaine was ranked #40 on the Sunday Independent list of "The 50 Most Influential and Powerful Women in Business". The newspaper described her as one of the smartest and most connected people in technology investment in Ireland. In the same year, she was named one of "The Top 38 Women in Technology" by IrishCentral. She was also recognized as one of "The 50 Most Inspiring Women in European Tech" by Inspiring Fifty: Europe. Additionally, Silicon Republic's Women Invent Tomorrow campaign named her one of "The Top 100 Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths".

Elaine's Personal Life

Elaine Coughlan and her husband live in the beautiful Wicklow Mountains in Ireland.