Meet Irish Entrepreneur And IWC Ambassador Ciara Byrne

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IWC & PAUL SHEERAN

IWC.Inspired. is a new content series dedicated to celebrating the achievements of extraordinary women. We meet its Irish ambassador, entrepreneur Ciara Byrne  …

Heritage watch brand IWC Schaffhausen has a long and storied history of creating exquisite timepieces for women, from elegant dress watches to sporty chronographs. Now the new IWC.Inspired. series shines a spotlight on the strategic and impactful use of time by successful female entrepreneurs, reflecting IWC’s core values of precision, innovation, and enduring excellence. The IWC.Inspired. series features a number of remarkable businesswomen, including Irish trailblazer Ciara Byrne. 

Ciara has built a fascinating career at the intersection of innovation, fashion, media, and technology, with key roles at Google and Condé Nast. Most recently, as Vice President of New Business Innovation at Condé Nast, a global powerhouse behind brands like Vogue, Vanity Fair, and WIRED, she spearheaded the development and launch of international ventures such as Vogue Business and integrated emerging technologies like AI and VR.

A Non-Executive Director on the British Fashion Council board, Ciara supports creativity and innovation in the fashion industry. She has also served as a council member for the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council. Ciara has recently launched a new venture, Vestra Partners. 

Ciara, tell us about your career path …  

Looking back, my career path hasn’t been linear, but there’s always been a clear thread –  curiosity, creativity, and a need to keep evolving.

I began with music. The discipline of practice and the focus it demanded taught me the value of patience and precision, but also made me realise how much I thrive on collaboration and shared energy. I wanted to channel that same intensity into something more outward-facing,  where ideas could move quickly and have real impact.

That led me to Google, where I joined at a time when technology was transforming how people and businesses connected. It was an incredible environment – fast, inventive, and ambitious. I worked across both core business functions and emerging ventures, learning how innovation operates at scale and seeing first-hand the power of timing, teamwork, and bold thinking.

After five years, I was ready for a new challenge, taking all I had learnt scaling products at Google and I moved to an industry I was passionate about. I joined Condé Nast, to help launch a new brand in Europe. That experience ignited something in me. I loved the creative rush of building from the ground up,  shaping a concept, assembling a team, and watching it take on a life of its own. Over time, that evolved into joining the President’s management team and international board, overseeing all markets outside the US.  As Vice President of New Business Innovation I led a global incubator developing ventures for the business, such as Vogue Business, working between New York, London, and Shanghai. Those ten years were profoundly fulfilling and expanded my capabilities in ways I could never have anticipated.

Across each chapter the constant has been a fascination with what’s next and spotting untapped spaces. Underserved sectors offer tremendous potential for growth and scale if identified early, and that’s been a recurring theme in my career. I’ve often stepped into roles where I didn’t have the traditional or conventional background, but that’s where the most interesting growth happens.

Beyond my executive roles, I’ve been fortunate to contribute to organisations that champion creativity and innovation – from the British Fashion Council, supporting designers who blend rich heritage with bold innovation, to the World Economic Forum, where I’ve helped shape conversations around the future of media.

How was your latest venture Vestra Partners come about?

After years of launching new businesses and helping them grow, I realised I wanted to invest in the people behind them, the founders who were quietly shaping the next generation of ideas.  

Vestra Partners was born from a belief that beauty, wellness, and personal care are more than just consumer categories. They sit at the crossroads of culture, science, and self-expression, a space that shapes how we live and how we feel about ourselves. Yet it’s an area often underestimated from an investment perspective. I wanted to bring together capital, creativity, and conviction to back founders who are reimagining what wellbeing means today. 

What ultimately inspired the shift from leading innovation at Condé Nast to moving into the investment space was recognising a familiar type of potential. The same creative tension that drives innovation in media exists in the beauty and wellness world, it’s human, emotional, and full of possibility. 

Our goal isn’t simply to invest in growth, but to create the right conditions for it, to help build the kind of companies that last because they’re grounded in a sense of purpose.