By Brian Moloney, Founder & CEO, StormHarvester
Over the past few years, StormHarvester has grown from a small Belfast startup into one of Ireland’s fastest-growing technology companies.
Today, we have more than 120 employees working across the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, with plans to continue expanding internationally over the coming years.
Earlier this year, being nominated for EY Entrepreneur of the Year Ireland was a hugely proud moment personally. Like most founders, you spend so much time focused on the day-to-day challenges of building and growing a business that you rarely stop and reflect on the journey itself.
READ MORE: Belfast's StormHarvester secures long-term wastewater contract with Northumbrian Water
As part of the programme, I recently travelled to Toronto for the EY CEO Retreat alongside a number of other entrepreneurs and business leaders. Spending time with founders from different sectors and hearing about their own experiences around leadership, scaling internationally and building culture was incredibly valuable. One of the biggest takeaways for me was that while industries may differ, many of the challenges and opportunities facing ambitious businesses are actually very similar.
It also reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time - that Northern Ireland businesses can absolutely compete on a global stage when they have the right people, ambition and mindset behind them. When people think about technology companies, they often think first about software, AI or innovation. But in reality, none of that exists without people.
At StormHarvester, we’ve always believed culture matters just as much as technical ability.
Of course we hire talented engineers, developers and specialists, but one of the biggest things we look for is attitude. We want people who are collaborative, positive, ambitious and genuinely excited by solving real-world problems.
What makes our business different is that the work our teams do has a direct impact on communities and the environment. Using AI and real-time wastewater monitoring, we help utilities predict and prevent flooding and sewage pollution before it happens. Last year alone, our technology helped prevent more than 10,000 homes and businesses flooding with sewage pollution in the UK.
That gives people a sense of purpose. They can come into work every day and see the tangible impact of what they’re building.
As we’ve scaled, protecting culture has become one of our biggest priorities. Growing quickly is exciting, but it also brings challenges. You have to make sure new people integrate properly, understand the business and feel empowered to contribute.
One thing I feel strongly about is creating a collaborative environment where people can learn from each other. That’s why we still place a big emphasis on in-person working and teamwork. The kind of innovation and fast-paced problem-solving we do simply works better when people are together, whiteboarding ideas, solving problems and learning from one another in real time.
We also believe strongly in promotion from within. Some of our best leaders today started in more junior roles and have grown with the company. That creates ambition internally and shows people there’s a genuine pathway to progress here.
The other thing we try to avoid is unnecessary hierarchy. StormHarvester has a very flat structure. My diary is open internally and anyone in the company can put time in with me directly. We want people to feel ownership and accountability, not like they’re just another number in a large organisation.
READ MORE: StormHarvester launches new Belfast headquarters opened by Lord Mayor of Belfast
Northern Ireland has an incredible pool of talent and I genuinely believe Belfast is becoming one of the most exciting places in the UK and Ireland to build a technology business.
For us, this is still just the beginning. We’re continuing to grow, continuing to recruit and continuing to push into new markets internationally. The ambition within the business is huge and there’s no ceiling on where we want to get to.
To find out more about StormHarvester visit www.stormharvester.com
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