Irene's career is driven by a passion for finding and commercialising best-in-class cleantech and sustainability solutions to mitigate climate change. With 14 years of experience, she has worked alongside leading startups, investors, Fortune 100 corporations, and government agencies to advance innovative technologies across industries including textiles, new materials, circular economy, water treatment, waste management, green chemicals, renewable energy, building technologies, mobility, food, and agriculture.

Irene began her journey at Carbon Trust, Europe's first cleantech investor, managing incubators and accelerators funded by the UK Government, European Commission, Swedish Energy Agency, and companies like General Electric. She then served as Portfolio Director at Sustainable Ventures, overseeing a portfolio of 27 investments across 4 funds. Subsequently, as an adviser at PDS Ventures, the corporate venture arm of PDS Ltd, Irene built a portfolio of investments in next-generation materials, sustainable processing, and circular economy solutions for the textile industry.

Throughout her career, Irene has invested in 40 climatech companies and mentored over 100 sustainability-focused companies, supporting their efforts to build solutions and scale globally. Her work has directly supported these companies in raising over £70 million in funding.

Currently, Irene focuses on operational roles in innovative companies driving sustainability in the textile industry. She serves as a Non-Executive Director at DyeRecycle, a company developing groundbreaking technologies for chemical circularity in textiles, addressing dye pollution and textile waste through innovative recycling processes. Additionally, Irene is the Business Development Lead at Materra, a company pioneering regenerative and hydroponic cotton production.

As an angel investor, Irene continues to support sustainable innovations, with a particular focus on the fashion and textile sectors. She is an Expert for the European Commission and European Innovation Council, a Mentor for the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a Senior Associate at Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership (CISL).

Irene holds two bachelor's degrees in Business and Economics and International Business from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Italy) and Northeastern University (US), and an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College (UK), all achieved with merit scholarships. She is completing a UKERC-funded PhD at UCL, researching crowdfunding for clean energy projects in developing countries, collaborating with FCDO and UNDP on blended finance instruments for rural electrification in Africa.

With her multifaceted approach to sustainable innovation, Irene continues to drive systemic change in the fashion and textile industry, accelerating the transition to a circular and sustainable economy.