David Shiels, dshiels@irconsult.ch – tel +41 79 358 3723

David Shiels (Irish/Swiss, born London, 1956) graduated with an accounting and economics degree (1977) and an MBA (1983) from University College Dublin, completing a dissertation with distinction on Organizational Buyer Behavior in the Irish Electronics Industry. After working in foreign direct investment with IDA Ireland, David Shiels worked in marketing management and business development in computer media, semiconductor, sensing and display technologies. From 1991 to 1996, he was the first Head of Marketing at CSEM, commercializing intellectual property and leading the early stages Xemics start-up which is now part of Xemtech, a Nasdaq RF integrated circuit company.

In 1996, David Shiels founded IRconsult Creative Strategies, specializing in early stage marketing strategies for emerging technologies; he has worked with more than 30 start-ups, in 8 of which he was either a founder or seed investor. He has in-depth knowledge of Nordic and US innovation ecosystems, having advised various technology innovation organisations on internationalisation and clustering strategies.