A one-day conference Celebrating 10 Years of Innovation in the West

PorterShed
Spark

Why

Ten years ago, PorterShed was created to solve a simple problem:

Galway needed a place where tech founders could start, build, and scale, without leaving the region. Since then, PorterShed has grown into a connected innovation ecosystem supporting, Early-Stage Founders, Scaling Companies, Researchers, Ecosystem Stakeholders and Global Technology Teams landing in the West of Ireland.

Spark is designed to create space for future-focused conversations. The conference features industry leaders who are building, leading, and thinking at the edge of innovation, sharing insight on what’s coming next and what it means for tech founders, teams, and organisations. The day concludes with an optional black-tie celebratory dinner, offering a moment to come together and mark PorterShed’s ten-year milestone.

What to Expect

Spark is designed as a high energy, single day conference with clear intent

from tech founders, leaders, and operators

progress, setbacks, lessons learned

leadership, resilience, decision-making

meaningful conversations, slow networking

to close the day

Who it’s for

START- UP FOUNDERS
ECOSYSTEM STAKEHOLDERS
DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
UNIVERSITY COLLABORATORS
CORPORATE PARTNERS
TECH COMMUNITY
INSTITUTIONAL AND ANGEL INVESTORS
THE GOOD AND THE AMBITIOUS

Spark is built for people who are actively shaping the tech ecosystem. If you’re building, backing, or enabling innovation, this event is for you.

SPEAKERS

A curated group of speakers spanning technology, leadership, sport, policy, and entrepreneurship.

Bio

Albane Bruyas is the COO of Scaleway, driving its record-breaking growth as Europe’s leading AI cloud provider. Managing global operations, supply chain, and customer care, she ensures seamless and sustainable scalability for all Scaleway servers and hardware, across 12 global data centers. Under her leadership, Scaleway has deployed one of the European cloud’s largest AI infrastructures, with 5,000 GPUs already active. With a background at L’Oréal and LVMH, Albane blends precision, rigor, innovation, and business impact.

Albane Bruyas

COO

Scaleway

Bio

Elaine Brennan is the Executive Director, Global Strategic Partnerships at Northwell Health where she has responsibility for developing collaborative and strategic relationships and has created innovative new programs at Northwell. Ms. Brennan originally joined Northwell Health to create the Pharma Ventures group and led the innovative approach to managing and developing collaborative and strategic relationships with the pharmaceutical/ biotech and device industry to establish Northwell as a premier destination for clinical research, health outcomes and digital innovation.

Elaine Brennan

Executive Director, Global Strategic Partnerships

Northwell Health

Bio

Stuart Brydson is a seasoned technology executive with more than 35 years of experience at some of the world’s most influential enterprise software companies, including Siebel Systems, Oracle, and most recently, ServiceNow.

Stuart Brydson

Technology Executive

ServiceNow

Bio

More details coming soon…

To Be Announced

black tie Celebration

The PorterShed invites our members, alumni and community to join us to celebrate 10 years of PorterShed.

This Black Tie Celebration will take place in Dexcom Stadium. The Cocktail Hour begins at 6:30 pm followed by a spectacular evening of shared memories, fun and laughter. Expect the unexpected and wear your dancing shoes. Places are limited so please purchase your tickets at your earliest convenience so as not to be disappointed.

Sponsorship & Brand Alignment

If your organisation wants to be part of this conversation, please contact

PorterShed Spark offers a limited number of brand alignment opportunities for organisations that genuinely support innovation, tech founders, and regional growth.

This is not about logos on lanyards. It’s about being visible where meaningful conversations happen. Opportunities include:

Register Your Interest

If you are not currently a part of the PorterShed community and would like to attend, register your interest below to receive updates and early access when tickets go live.