Fintech and women’s advocate Eileen Burbidge has added yet another new role to her CV with her appointment as chair of Tech City UK.
Burbidge, who moved from the US to the UK in 2004 to join Skype’s young team, is a founding partner of VC firm Passion Capital and was recently appointed as the government’s special advisor on fintech.
She also received an MBE for her services to business in London in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in June.
Burbidge takes over from Baroness Joanna Shields who left the organisation in May to work as David Cameron’s Minister for Internet Safety and Security.
Other high-profile tech leaders to join the board include serial VC investor Robin Klein, Yonca Brunini, VP marketing Google EMEA, Wendy Tan-White, former CEO of website builder Moonfruit, and Tim Luke, VP of technology, media and telecoms at Barclays UK.
Burbidge has already got to work on establishing an Entrepreneur Advisory Panel at the government-funded body, which includes senior execs from Zoopla, Just-Eat, DeepMind, Unruly, FanDuel, King.com and Transferwise.
Gerard Grech, CEO, Tech City UK, said: “With Baroness Shields’ support and guidance on programmes such as the Digital Business Academy, Future Fifty, Tech Nation and HQ-UK, the UK has firmly established its position as a digital innovation powerhouse. Building on that legacy, we welcome Eileen as Chair. Her excellent credentials and extensive experience mark her out as one of the leading figures within the UK’s digital community.
“I am also privileged to have Robin, Tim, Wendy and Yonca joining the board. Their governance and guidance along with the new Entrepreneur Advisory Panel means we can readily tap into the experiences and minds of some of the UK’s most successful digital entrepreneurs and influencers to validate our plans and ideas.”