Kielys named Digital Heroes at 25th annual Spiders Awards
Two of Cork’s greatest entrepreneurs were named Ireland’s Digital Heroes at the recent Spiders Awards in Dublin.
Dan and Linda Kiely were presented with the accolade at the glitzy ceremony at The Round Room at Dublin’s Mansion House last Thursday, in recognition of their outstanding commitment to digital innovation.
400 people gathered for the 25th annual Spiders Awards. Dubbed the ‘Oscars of Ireland's digital industry’, the Spiders is the longest running digital awards programme in Ireland, dedicated to recognising companies and individuals driving digital excellence in every aspect of their work. The annual event sets out to recognise and further encourage creativity to flourish and grow.
The judging panel evaluated nominations across 20 categories on the theme of ‘Driving Digital, Emerging Stronger’.
Husband and wife Dan and Linda have gone from from being broke and working in sales, to becoming multi-millionaire CEOs. They grew Voxpro from scratch to a global player, employing more than 6,000 team members across Europe, the US and Asia before being acquired.
Accepting the award, Dan Kiely said: “We are thrilled to receive the Digital Hero award. It’s an incredible honour for Linda and I to receive recognition for outstanding contribution. We have been relentless in what we do, and a big part of our success has been as a result of our agility and the mindset of a rapidly scaling company. We set out to redefine our industry and to work in partnership with innovative and disruptive companies globally striving for digital innovation.”
Linda Kiely added: “We hope that our story inspires others and highlights that Irish companies truly can have global ambitions, impact and determination in the midst of economic challenges to emerge stronger. Investing in people is absolutely paramount. I firmly believe that the success that we’ve had, and the reason we are here today, is down to our people.”
Tracey Carney, Managing Director, Spiders Awards said: “Tonight we recognise excellence and the outstanding creativity of Ireland's digital ecosystem. We applaud all of you who are the driving force behind it, and who have ensured we are emerging stronger than ever, from what has been the biggest digital transformation any of us have ever seen. The digital industry in Ireland has not only survived but thrived over the last two years.”
Founded in 1995, Voxpro was acquired by TELUS International in 2019, with Dan continuing to be part of the global organisation at TELUS, as a strategic advisor.
Voxpro provided customer experience, technical support, sales operations and digital solutions to companies like Google, Stripe, Coinbase, Snapchat, Facebook and Airbnb.
The sale of Voxpro in saw Dan and Linda’s personal fortune of €71m skyrocket to €103m. They then turned their attention to investing in young entrepreneurs in Cork with their new business The Republic of Work.
The Kielys have made a number of investments in Irish and global tech start-ups and continue to be involved in the development of these companies, including Vudini, Johnson Hana and Talivest.