With just four weeks to go until the leading business and investment conference for the Irish and Scots Irish diaspora, one of the many inspirational speakers to be featured at the event has spoken of his excitement at the gathering.

Co-founder of the world’s first on-demand insurance platform, Mark Dowds said the Belfast International Homecoming business and investment conference, was an exciting opportunity to celebrate the great things being achieved by the Irish diaspora and a chance to create further opportunities.

The event, which will be hosted at a number of venues across the city, including Belfast harbor from where the city’s regeneration is growing apace, will take place between Wednesday 28 and Friday 30 November. The Homecoming will once again feature a host of global dynamos with the shared aim of boosting Belfast’s place on the global stage.

As well as addressing Friday’s business and investment conference, Mark, who is also an accomplished endurance runner and cyclist, serial investor and start-up founder, will be one of 50 recipients of a Belfast Ambassador award to be presented at a gala banquet to close the three-day event. He will be joined by other US leading lights including Bostonian John Lynch of Reebok, New Jersey’s leading restaurateur Francis Schott and global citizen, Diane Poole of ferry company, Stena Line.

"I feel honored to participate in the Belfast International Homecoming event,” said Mark. “The idea of gathering ex-pats and locals to celebrate some of the great things being achieved by the Irish diaspora is amazing. We have a big footprint in the world for being such a small island.

“I am looking forward to meeting a lot of interesting people and am excited to see what great things come as a result.”

Mark himself has vast experience of ‘great things’ having co-founded Trov, the world’s first on-demand insurance platform in 2012 and today is responsible for all revenue, strategy and growth as the company expands internationally.

In the last two decades he has helped get dozens of ventures off the ground, through his Canadian-based incubators Fresh Initiatives and Creationstep. Whilst based in Toronto, he established a co-working facility that helped nurture the city’s emerging web 2.0 community and half a dozen other start-ups, including ServiceCloud which was acquired by Salesforce.com.

He is the Chairman of Generation Innovation – a program designed to bring entrepreneurial experiences to secondary school students throughout Northern Ireland - and an advisor to several companies including, Modius Health, StageTEN, and eHarvestHub.

Mark will be joined at the Belfast International Homecoming by State Assemblymen, business leaders, legal brains and entrepreneurs to name but a few. Travel and conference packages are still available. See www.belfasthomecoming.com for details.

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