About us

At VARA, we provide professional services to small to medium sized enterprises and third level sectors in Ireland and the UK. We are delivering impactful results for a range of clients across many business and technology areas.

Our primary support activities focus on Innovation Management, Customer Discovery, Commercial Feasibility, Lean Start-Up Training and Business Development. With a dedicated team of experienced and qualified innovation and commercialisation experts, we are successfully delivering unique value and advantage for client organisations using innovation and collaboration as the effective enablers. Please visit our clients page to read about what some of the organisations we have supported are saying about us.

Managing Consultant

Kieran Fegan leads the VARA team. He has extensive experience and relevant knowledge in the areas of strategic business growth, developing market insights, increasing sales, improving profitability, competitive advantage and value for organisations using innovation and collaboration as the core drivers. Kieran has a developed network across many business sectors, business support agencies, third level institutions, professional advisers & investment networks across Ireland, North and South, in the UK and internationally.

An engineering graduate of both University of Ulster and Queen’s University, Belfast, Kieran’s background spans engineering, product design, own successful business start-up, business development / sales, innovation management, project management and technology transfer.

Some achievements:

  • Co-founded a product design, prototyping and production company in 2001 and secured business from customers in USA, UK, Ireland and Germany during first year of trading.
  • Set up and populated the first regional Technology Incubation and Innovation Centre in Northern Ireland
  • Led out on Innovation for Competitive Enterprises (ICE), a €2.5M pilot innovation support project which independent evaluators determined, increased combined company turnover of 90 SMEs by over €56M, created 300 new jobs and took nearly 40 companies into new export sales
  • Establised and developed fruitful relationships between Irish and UK research centres and large global companies from sectors such as healthcare, agri-tech, IoT and renewables.
  • Contracted to carry out market assessment / feasibility studies and commercialisation training support for novel technologies developed by a wide range of Irish and UK University research teams. A highly impressive record of conversion from VARA CFFs to successful Commercialisation Fund applications.
  • Commercial Lead for a number of University Spin-outs, securing business angel and VC investment and first customers.

Since 2016, Kieran is working directly with SMEs, Research Centres, Entrepreneurs and Investors in the areas of innovation management, technology and commercial feasibility, customer discovery business development and commercialisation.

For further information on our organisation, its services and how we can assist your business. Contact us today.