Iona Star

Ireland

Pre Seed

About Iona Star

Iona Star is a venture capital firm based in Ireland, focusing on Pre-Seed stage investments. The fund actively supports founders building innovative solutions in AI/ML, providing strategic guidance and capital to help startups scale.

Investment Focus

Location / RegionIreland

Funding StagePre Seed

Industry Focus

Ai Ml

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

Early-stage AI founder needing data access & operator guidance

data access

early-stage

agentic AI

responsible AI

audit-trail & governance

Bullish Signals

AWS Activate Provider — portfolio perksexternal

500+ AI experts via Brainpool.AI partnershipexternal

Portfolio exit: RxDataScience → Syneos Healthexternal

Curated proprietary data access per dealexternal

Industry leader LP commitments securedexternal

InqData: data partnerships with industry heavyweightsexternal

Capital + tech + data bundled per investmentexternal

CUBIG portfolio co in 2 Gartner agentic AI reportsexternal

CUBIG recognized Tech Innovator in agentic AIexternal

Portfolio company solving enterprise data-ready-for-AI layerexternal

Network: responsible AI & audit trail expertsexternal

Contrarian Signals

Small 4-GP team, limited bandwidthexternal

Fund size & ticket size undisclosedexternal

Limited public portfolio transparencyexternal

Founder Do's

Build at AI + data convergence

Need proprietary dataset partnerships

Open to hands-on operator support

Target global tech markets

Embed data governance & auditability

Founder Don'ts

Not AI/data-native startup

Want passive capital only

Late-stage or growth-only plays

Key GPs & Partners

Gerry Buggy

General Partner

operatorhands-onfounder-background

Mike Powell

General Partner

operatorC-suitehands-on

Graham Ferguson

General Partner

operatorfounder-backgroundstrategic

Kevin McGivern

General Partner

operatorC-suitehands-on

Iona Star

Advisor/Network

data-governanceresponsible-AIaudit-expert

Unlock Investor Signals

$29/month for full signal access. Cancel anytime.

View Plans Browse all Signal Profiles →

Fund Overview

Fund Size€22M

Saves0

Website

Key People

Mike Owell

Gerry BuggyGeneral Partner

Mike PowellGeneral Partner

Graham FergusonGeneral Partner

Kevin McGivernGeneral Partner

Iona StarAdvisor/Network

Related Funds

Baseline Venture Fund I

€5M

Ireland

Pre Seed

Ai Ml, Saas

Fund Manager:Baseline Community

Pre Seed

Ai Ml

Saas

Ara Infrastructure Fund I

$800M

Ireland

Pre Seed

Ai Ml, Deep Tech, Saas

Fund Manager:Charles Cherington, Troy W. Thacker

Pre Seed

Ai Ml

Deep Tech

Saas

Firstpoint VC Fund I

€50M

Israel

Seed

Gaming, Ai Ml

Fund Manager:Burak Yılmaz, Mike Fischer

Seed

Gaming

Ai Ml