Ilen River Partners was established in 2018 to provide sector specific capital to companies at each stage of their development. The ethos of Ilen River Partners is built on deep sectoral knowledge of the industries it invests in, patience and long-term vision, and real partnerships with the emerging businesses we work with. Ilen River Partners is led by founder and Managing Partner, Fearghal Ó Ríordáin, with Triona Hourihane as co-founder and Principal.
Ilen River Partners, through a limited partnership, established the Irish Whiskey Growth Fund, a dedicated fund for the Irish whiskey distillery sector.
Fearghal is the founder and Managing Partner of Ilen River Partners. Before setting up Ilen River Partners, Fearghal was a partner at a leading European venture capital firm, and previously at a leading US venture capital firm. He has extensive experience in investing in emerging companies at all stages of their development.
Earlier in his career, Fearghal worked for a short period with a top-tier global investment bank in London. An engineer by profession, Fearghal spent the first part of his career in engineering and general management roles within industry. Fearghal has an MBA with distinction from INSEAD and a B.E. and M.Eng.Sc from University College Cork.
In 2018, Fearghal formed the Irish Whiskey Growth Fund, with support from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), as the first investment fund under management by Ilen River Partners.
Triona is a co-founder and Principal of Ilen River Partners and will manage investments for the Irish Whiskey Growth Fund. Triona’s expertise lies in identifying what businesses require to grow and achieve their financial objectives having spent 15 years helping companies develop and implement financial strategies.
A chartered accountant, Triona commenced her career with Deloitte before moving into industry to work in senior financial roles for large multi-national corporations. Triona was responsible for formulating long term financial and operational plans to fit the very specific needs of the companies she was advising.
She holds an MBS in Finance from Smurfit Business School at UCD and a Bachelor Degree in Commerce from University College Cork.
The following leading international whiskey experts are working with Ilen River Partners on the Irish Whiskey Growth Fund. They have decades of technical and wider industry expertise to offer to independent whiskey distilleries.