Governing national systems
More than a decade on the board steering Ireland’s national eHealth programmes: records, identity, sensitive data and technology investment inside a state service.
Entrepreneur · CEO · Board member
Building, governing and funding innovation.
Diane Nevin is an Irish entrepreneur, CEO of GRIT International Ventures and a board member in Europe and the United States. Her career spans building ventures, governing national-scale technology programmes, preparing companies for investment and delivering EU-funded innovation across borders.
She sits on the boards of HSE eHealth Ireland, the European Institute of Women’s Health, Equalize Startups in the United States and the ATU Innovation Hubs, and has designed and led accelerators for founders across Europe, the Middle East and the United States.
Experience that travels across sectors.
Diane’s career has moved between building companies, governing public systems and funding innovation. The common thread is making complex, high-stakes programmes work for founders, for investors and for the institutions that depend on them.
On the board of HSE eHealth Ireland since 2015, she has helped steer national programmes for electronic health records, patient identity and sensitive data. As CEO of GRIT International Ventures she leads business development, partnerships and innovation programmes on three continents, and through EU consortia she has also designed investor training and a cross-border accelerator for deep-tech ventures.
Her board roles span EU health policy in Brussels, university spinouts in the United States and commercialisation in Ireland. She has lectured in entrepreneurship and innovation, co-authored peer-reviewed research, and works with the European Innovation Council as a venture-building expert.
Capabilities proven across public and private sectors.
Capabilities built across health, investment, technology and European programmes, and proven in public institutions, companies and international consortia.
Building technology
Designs and builds digital products herself, with the data discipline, transparency and audit trails that regulated sectors demand.
Capital and investment
Prepares companies for investors and investors for companies: business models, due diligence, valuation and fundraising strategy.
EU institutions and funding
European Innovation Council expert and consortium partner, fluent in EU programmes, funding instruments and the people who run them.
International partnerships
Programmes, boards and partners across Europe, the Middle East and the United States.
Delivery at scale
Multi-country, multi-partner programmes delivered against defined outcomes, deliverables and public accountability.
An international business built on strategy, partnerships and growth.
GRIT works with companies, institutions and international partners on growth strategy, market entry, innovation programmes and new ventures, across Europe, the Middle East and the United States.
Diane founded GRIT and leads it as CEO. GRIT is a business development and innovation company: it shapes growth strategies, builds cross-border partnerships, designs and delivers EU-funded programmes, and develops new ventures and industries.
Its clients and partners include founders, corporates, universities, investors and public institutions. Accelerators and investment readiness are one strand of that work, alongside strategy, partnerships and building new companies.
Business strategy & growth
Business models, commercial strategy, market validation and go-to-market plans for companies and new ventures.
International partnerships
Market entry, cross-border collaboration and partnerships with corporates, universities and public bodies on three continents.
EU programmes & consortia
Design and delivery of multi-partner EU-funded programmes, from strategy and deliverables to reporting.
Venture development
Building new companies and industries, including International Accelerators and investment readiness for founders.
Board seats across health, policy and innovation, in Europe and the United States.
Diane brings an operator’s judgement to the board table: decades of building companies, combined with governance of national health technology, EU health policy and university commercialisation.
HSE eHealth Ireland
Supporting the HSE Chief Information Officer on digital health strategy and implementation: electronic health records, eReferrals, the Individual Health Identifier, the new children’s hospital systems, maternal and newborn clinical management, ePharmacy, cancer care eHealth, open data and primary care.
European Institute of Women’s Health
A Brussels-based NGO working directly with EU institutions on health policy, research priorities and health system reform, using evidence-based approaches across the European Union.
Equalize Startups, United States
Mentor programme and pitch competition advancing underrepresented academic inventors as they turn frontier science and deep technology into university spinout companies.
ATU Innovation Hubs (formerly GMIT)
Supporting the regional innovation ecosystem and university–industry commercialisation, including the EmpowerHer programme.
GRIT International Ventures
Leads GRIT’s strategy and growth: an international business development and innovation company with clients, programmes and partners on three continents.
European Innovation Council
EIC Tech to Market Entrepreneurship and Venture Building Expert (EISMEA), consortium partner in EU-funded programmes, and former lecturer in entrepreneurship and innovation.
Comfortable in the rooms where decisions are shaped.
From the European Commission and European Parliament to national health systems, international investor forums and governments, Diane brings founders’ and investors’ realities into the conversations that set funding and policy.
On stage internationally.
Keynotes, panels and moderation at international conferences, investor forums and European institutions.
PARIS · MAY 2023
MedFemTech Congress
Panellist on “The Role of General Practitioners in Women’s Health”, a multidisciplinary session on more joined-up care.
Congress programme ↗
PORTO · 2025
SIM Conference
Panellist on FemTech, the representation gap in clinical research, and better funding routes for women’s health innovators.
Event page ↗
STOCKHOLM
International Women in Tech
Panellist on “How to Reach 50% Funding Going to Female Founders?”, on directing more investor capital to women-led companies.
Event page ↗
OSLO
HERFUND Investor Event
Panellist on pitch-deck quality, inclusive founder sourcing and how investors screen early-stage companies.
Event page ↗
SOFIA
SPINOFF Bulgaria
Panellist on “Funding the Future: Investor Insights into Spinoff Opportunities”, on investment pathways for research-led ventures.
Event page ↗
DUBLIN
American Irish Medical Summit
Speaker on entrepreneurship in healthcare at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Event page ↗Every engagement, by country
Ireland
- Business Post Smart Health Summit, DublinPanellist, Scaling Health InnovationsEvent page ↗
- American Irish Medical Summit, RCSI DublinSpeaker, Entrepreneurship in HealthcareEvent page ↗
- GRIT Female Leaders in Healthcare SummitFounder, host and moderatorEvent page ↗
- Network Ireland National Conference, GalwayPanellistCoverage ↗
- Women Founders in Health Tech, PorterShed GalwayPanellist, State of the Nation and Global OutlookEvent page ↗
- Women in Tech DublinSpeaker
Belgium
- Women Who Build Europe: European Female Founders Summit, BrusselsSpeaker at the SCALE’HER programme launch, March 2026Event page ↗
- European Commission, BrusselsSpeaker on female entrepreneurship and access to opportunity
- HealthTech Investor Summit, BrugesSpeaker on investment and growth in healthcare venturesEvent page ↗
Bulgaria
- Women Entrepreneurs Forum, SofiaSpeaker, Where and How to Find Financial Support for Our Ideas?Event page ↗
- SPINOFF Bulgaria, SofiaPanellist, Funding the Future: Investor Insights into Spinoff OpportunitiesEvent page ↗
- EmpowerHer 2024: Ellevate to Excellence, AmCham Bulgaria, SofiaPanellist, March 2024Event page ↗
France
- MedFemTech Congress, ParisPanellist, The Role of General Practitioners in Women’s Health, May 2023Programme ↗
Portugal
- SIM Conference, PortoPanellist, FemTech, women’s health and investment, 2025Event page ↗
Norway
- HERFUND Investor Event, OsloPanellist, pitch-deck quality and investor screeningEvent page ↗
Sweden
- International Women in Tech, StockholmPanellist, How to Reach 50% Funding Going to Female Founders?Event page ↗
Finland
- Slush 2025, HelsinkiHERFUND at the Women’s Power PavilionEvent page ↗
United States
- American Irish Medical Summit, ChicagoInternational healthcare and innovation exchangeEvent page ↗
Turning international collaboration into delivered programmes.
Through GRIT, Diane designs and delivers multi-partner EU projects that connect founders, investors, industry and academia across borders.
EU-FUNDED PROJECT · 2023–2026
HERFUND
More connected pathways between investors and women-led innovation.
A nine-partner European consortium building knowledge, training and connections among gender-conscious investors, female founders and innovation stakeholders. GRIT led project deliverables and contributed to founder and investor training, with events in Oslo, Porto and at Slush in Helsinki.
EU-FUNDED PROJECT · 2025–2027
SCALE’HER
Accelerating women-led digital and deep-tech ventures.
GRIT co-designed the cross-border accelerator for 60 women-led ventures at technology readiness levels 6–9: the founder journey, delivery structure, funding stream, financial leadership work and routes to market. GRIT also authored the Corporate–Start-up Collaboration Manifesto and the Cross-Border Partnership Mandate.
9 partner organisationsHERFUND consortium, 7 countries
60 women-led venturesSCALE’HER accelerator
Cross-border deliveryInvestors, industry, academia and founders
Reports and frameworks for EU programmes
- Corporate–Start-up Collaboration ManifestoSCALE’HER, deliverable D1.3. Author.
- Acceleration Programme DesignSCALE’HER, deliverable D2.4: programme modules, mentoring strategy and delivery plan. Author.
- EU Open Call FrameworkSCALE’HER, deliverable D2.1. Contributor.
- Cross-Border Partnership MandateSCALE’HER. Author.
Evidence for women’s digital health.
Co-author of The opportunities and challenges of women’s digital health: A research agenda, published in Health Policy and Technology, volume 12, issue 4 (2023).
The paper maps the opportunities and challenges in women’s digital health and sets out a research agenda for the field.
Co-authors: Caroline A. Figueroa, Josephine Sundqvist, Sunjoy Mathieu, Nasim Farrokhnia, Diane Nevin and Sarah Wamala Andersson.On the record.
Interviews, official records, articles, programmes and research.
SCALE’HER interviews GRIT
Programme design, capital readiness, corporate partnerships and GRIT’s role in a pan-European deep-tech accelerator.
Read the interview ↗eolas Magazine
Profile of Diane at eHealth Ireland, on startups, innovation and national digital health.
Read the profile ↗The challenges facing Ireland’s health system
Interview with Diane as an eHealth Ireland board member, ahead of her appearance at the National Health Summit at Croke Park.
Read the interview ↗Business Post Smart Health Summit
Speaker biography on healthcare innovation, commercialisation and access to finance.
View profile ↗MedFemTech Congress
Official programme listing her Paris panel on women’s health and primary care.
View programme ↗How to launch a successful start-up
Diane’s nine-step guide for Galway Business School: validation, commercial models, financial strategy, marketing and networks.
Read the article ↗TU Delft Research Portal
Publication record for the peer-reviewed women’s digital health research agenda.
Open the record ↗HERFUND training programmes
Investor and founder training on due diligence, valuation, term sheets, inclusive governance, pitch design and funding.
View the programmes ↗Vitalis
Conference session on the FemTech research agenda and the need for stronger evidence and investment.
View the session ↗The work, in pictures.
Conferences, investor events and European programmes, from Paris, Porto, Stockholm and Oslo to Brussels, Helsinki, Bruges, Sofia, Dublin and Chicago. Select a photograph to enlarge it.
Paris, France
MedFemTech Congress, 2023
Panellist on the role of general practitioners in women’s health.
Event source ↗Porto, Portugal
SIM Conference, 2025
Panellist on FemTech, clinical-research representation and funding routes; launch of HERFUND founder and investor training.
Stockholm, Sweden
International Women in Tech
Panellist on closing the funding gap for women founders.
Event source ↗Oslo, Norway
HERFUND investor event
Panellist on pitch-deck quality, inclusive founder sourcing and investor screening.
Event source ↗Brussels, Belgium
European Commission
Presentation on female entrepreneurship, European collaboration and access to opportunity.
Brussels, Belgium
HERFUND and SCALE’HER at the European Parliament
Consortium events on networks, mentoring ecosystems and cross-border opportunity.
Event source ↗Helsinki, Finland
Slush 2025, Women’s Power Pavilion
HERFUND, EIT Community Supernovas and the Women’s Power Pavilion on more inclusive European tech ecosystems.
Bruges, Belgium
HealthTech Investor Summit, 2024
Speaker on investment and growth in healthcare ventures.
Sofia, Bulgaria
SPINOFF Bulgaria
Panellist on investment pathways for spinouts and research-led ventures.
Event source ↗Dublin, Ireland
American Irish Medical Summit, RCSI
Speaker on entrepreneurship in healthcare at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Event source ↗Ireland
GRIT Female Leaders in Healthcare Summit
The GRIT summit Diane founded and hosts, bringing together women leading in healthcare and life sciences.
Event source ↗Sofia, Bulgaria
Women Entrepreneur Forum
Speaker on where and how to find financial support for new ideas.
Event source ↗Dublin, Ireland
Women in Tech Dublin
Speaker on entrepreneurship, innovation and commercial strategy.
Galway, Ireland
Fierce Women Founders in Health Tech
Global Outlook panellist with leaders from Ireland’s healthtech ecosystem.
Sofia, Bulgaria
EmpowerHer 2024
EmpowerHer conference, “Elevate to Excellence”, at the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria.
Dublin, Ireland
Smart Health Summit
Business Post Smart Health Summit, on healthcare transformation, digital innovation and market access.
Event source ↗Ireland
Network Ireland National Conference 2022
Panellist alongside leaders from Enterprise Ireland and Meta at Network Ireland’s national conference and Businesswoman of the Year Awards.
Event source ↗Chicago, United States
American Irish Medical Summit, Chicago
International healthcare and innovation exchange with the American Irish Medical Summit.
Event source ↗Sofia, Bulgaria
HERFUND, Sofia
Consortium work in Sofia with HERFUND partners from across Europe, building connections between investors and founders.
The idea is the start.
The company is the work.
A career spent turning promising ideas into companies, programmes and partnerships that last.
Speaking, board and advisory enquiries.
For keynotes and panels, board and advisory roles, programme partnerships or founder and investor work, send a short note and Diane will be in touch.