Building the Irish Diaspora Venture Engine with Marius Smyth, Digital Irish Venture Fund

In this episode, we sit down with Marius Smyth of the Digital Irish Venture Fund (DIVF) for a follow-up to our earlier conversations with Marty Loughlin. Where Marty walked us through how DIVF picks founders and the realities of pitching the fund, Marius zooms out to the layer underneath: how DIVF is building the Irish diaspora into a working venture ecosystem rather than relying on it as a goodwill network. He is leading the build-out of a physical “Green Room” for Irish founders in New York, architecting the fund’s co-investment strategy, and thinking hard about where a fund of DIVF’s size best fits in an industry increasingly polarised between mega-funds and solo angels.

In this conversation, we get into:

• Why the Irish network is a sourcing engine, not just a hospitality network — and what DIVF is building to keep it commercial rather than a mutual appreciation society.

• How DIVF co-invests alongside other funds without becoming dependent on whoever is leading the round.

• Why the right place for an Irish venture fund right now is not at either end of the cheque-size spectrum, and where DIVF deliberately sits.

• The most practical first step for a founder coming out of Ireland with no US network, plus where the gaps still are in the Irish ecosystem itself.

If you’re an Irish founder building for the US market — or thinking about the next layer of infrastructure the diaspora needs — this episode is the strategic counterpart to Marty’s tactical advice from the earlier episodes.

About the Digital Irish Venture Fund (DIVF)

DIVF is an early-stage venture firm focused on Irish and Irish diaspora founders building for global markets. The fund operates as “friendly operators” rather than traditional shark VCs — providing hands-on operating help, warm introductions, and access to a diaspora network across New York, London and Dublin after the cheque is written. DIVF co-invests alongside other funds and works alongside the broader Irish ecosystem — Enterprise Ireland, universities, accelerators, and angels — to bring strong Irish companies into the US market.

Want to get in contact with the Digital Irish team? Email us at podcast@digitalirish.com