Edel Kinane, Strike. Image: Naoise Culhane
The former Just Eat commercial director will take up the role of chief growth officer at Irish start-up Strike.
Irish fintech start-up Strike is bolstering its leadership team with the addition of former Just Eat commercial director Edel Kinane.
Having been part of the Just Eat Ireland executive leadership team since 2014, Kinane now will join Dublin-based Strike as its chief growth officer.
Strike offers payment technology that is designed to make cashless tipping easy without the need for a terminal or a new app on customers’ phones. It recently announced a partnership with Camile Thai.
The fintech was founded in 2020 by Oli Cavanagh, who previously co-founded peer-to-peer lender Flender, and Charles Dowd, who co-founded Irish payments company Plynk.
The company recently raised €625,000 in seed funding and said that it intends to seek a further €6.5m in investment before the end of 2021.
Cavanagh said Kinane’s appointment is “critical” to the company’s growth strategy. “There are significant opportunities for the Strike proposition in multiple sectors in multiple markets,” he said.
“Edel will be central to building out that proposition and helping us to achieve our ambitious growth targets.”
In her role at Just Eat Ireland, Kinane spearheaded the growth and development of the brand, building a base of 3,000 restaurant partners and more than 1m customers.
She brings many years of marketing experience to Strike, having worked both in-house and on the agency side for brands such as Brown Thomas, PepsiCo and Unilever.
An increasingly cashless society
Kinane said she’s looking forward to applying her experience across brand, sales and strategic partnerships to accelerate Strike’s growth and reach.
“This patent-pending technology meets a growing need in today’s increasingly cashless society. It’s needed both by those operating in trade or the charity sector and by the consumer who finds themselves unable to tip or donate due to the lack of cash in use in our everyday lives,” she said.
“The opportunities for the use of Strike across a broad range of industries and sectors is limitless and that is what really excites me. I am really looking forward to being part of the journey ahead.”
The news follows this morning’s announcement that digital bank N26 and payments company SumUp have partnered up to make cashless payments easier for self-employed workers.
