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Boardwave
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Boardwave is a London-based impact-led organisation founded by Phill Robinson in April 2022. Boardwave was established as a community of European software entrepreneurs, Founders and CEOs to enable them to work together to accelerate their business growth and to improve the overall position of Europe as a home for global software companies. It has a launched in the UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.[1][2][3]
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Boardwave had 2,000 members as of February 2025,[4] with 575 mentors pledging over 4500 hours of pro bono mentoring time. Boardwave’s female founder network included 350+ members across Europe. It has hosted dedicated events, such as Cash not Croissants about funding and scaling.[5]
On 10 October 2022, it held the first Boardwave dinner debate in London on the topic of Winning big against Silicon Valley, and 270 members immediately signed up as Boardwave Mentors.[6]
On 28 September 2023, Boardwave announced Jonathan McKay, Leo Apotheker and Elona Mortimer-Zhika as new board members. They join Phill Robinson, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) at Boardwave, along with Kath Easthope, as co-founder and chief operating officer (COO), and are supported by an advisory committee and team of high calibre founding patrons.[7]
In March 2024, Boardwave launched a whitepaper, authored by Phill Robinson, titled “How the UK & Europe can lead the global software industry by 2034”.[8]
Boardwave officially launched in Italy in May 2024.[9] In September 2024, Boardwave officially launched in Spain at an event with senior Spanish figures in the software industry including Alberto Torres, Senior Advisor at McKinsey and Sarah Harmon, ex-CEO at Sngular.[10]
On the 18th September 2024, Boardwave announced a partnership with You.com, a community for 1,700+ European software leaders, to adoption of AI in the European software industry.[11]
As of February 2024, Boardwave is working to address the AI skills and knowledge gap along with its partner, Mindstone.[12][13]
In December 2024, Boardwave launched a paper alongside the BVCA and Future Governance Forum titled ’Seizing the Scale-Up Moment’.[14]
In September 2024, Boardwave published its first book, ''Leaders Lives'', which profiles 25 technology leaders from the UK and Europe.[15]
In 2025, Phill Robinson stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and assumed the role of Chair, while Kath Easthope succeeded him as CEO.[16] Jonathan McKay was appointed as a Non-Executive Director.[17]
At the same time, Boardwave launched the Connection Centre app to help its members connect and support European software leaders in their work.[18]
In June 2025, Boardwave published a report in collaboration with McKinsey & Company examining Europe’s technology ecosystem.[19] The report highlights areas where targeted changes could aid start-up and scale-up growth, drawing on insights from European tech leaders, Boardwave’s member survey, and analysis of major software companies.[20][21][22]
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Charity
European Software Leaders; Ceos, Founders, Chairs are eligible to join at no cost. Boardwave offers them a programme of networking, debates, events, mentoring, inspiration. The organisation is pan-European, and has run events in the UK, Germany, France, Belgium & Netherlands.
Each year, profit that is surplus to Boardwave's cash flow requirements is donated to medical research at Cure Parkinsons.[23][24] To date Boardwave has donated £250,000 to Cure Parkinson’s, and has helped raise awareness of Parkinson’s by funding the first two series of the popular "Movers & Shakers" podcast, hosted by : Rory Cellan-Jones (also a Boardwave Patron), Jeremy Paxman, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn, Gillian Stacey-Solymar. Boardwave is also promoting the launch of the paperback edition of music legend, Tony King’s book, "The Tastemaker".
Boardwave supports the Movers & Shakers podcast series which peaked at №3 in the UK podcast charts in March 2023 and is produced by Rory Cellan-Jones, Jeremy Paxman, Mark Mardell, Sir Nicholas Mostyn, Paul Mayhew Archer, and Gillian Lacey-Solymar.[25]
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Background
The organisation is backed and financed by international brands, including Advent International, Apax Partners, Bain & Co, Bank of America, Blackstone, General Atlantic, Heidrick & Struggles, Index Ventures, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Bain Consulting and Rothschild & Co. As of 2023, Boardwave has 80 funding partners.[26]
List of Founding Patrons
- Leo Apotheker, Chair Synchron, ex CEO SAP & HP
- Nic Humphries Exec Chair, Hg Capital
- Steve Garnett, ex-Chairperson Salesforce EMEA, Investor
- Chano Fernandez, ex co-CEO, Workday
- Stephen Kelly, CEO WANdisco, ex CEO Sage
- Melissa di Donato, NED Department science innovation and Technology, Supervisory Board Porsche AG
- Wol Kolade, Managing Partner Livingbridge, Deputy Chair NHS England, Co-Founder 10,000 Black Interns
- Jonathan McKay, NED
- Oystein Moan, Executive Chairman of Visma
- Nick Discombe, Serial Chair & NED, UK Software
- Rory Cellan-Jones, Technology Writer, Author, ex BBC technology correspondent
- Adam Hale, Board & Advisory roles around People & Technology
- Jose Duarte, CEO Infovista, & Non Exec Director
- Paul Smith, Chief Commercial Officer, ServiceNow
- Chris Bayne, CEO, The Access Group
- Gillian Wilmot CBE, Founder & CEO, Board Mentoring
- Stephanie Hutton, Fractional CMO
References
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