Sherry Coutu CBE

Independent NED Pearson, Standard Life, Raspberry Pi

As a serial entrepreneur and investor, Sherry has founded several B2B SaaS companies and has made direct angel investments in over 70 technology firms.

She is also an LP in five Venture Capital firms which operate globally, three IPOs and four unicorns so far… Outside of Workfinder - a technology start-up specialising in AI-based recruitment and up skilling services which she is Executive Chair and Co-Founder of, she is also a Non-Executive Director of Pearson plc, Raspberry Pi and a Trustee at charities, Founders4Schools, National Numeracy and Digital Boost.

Sherry’s previous Non-Executive Director experience encompasses serving on the Board of the London Stock Exchange Group, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Hoopla plc and RM plc. She has also served on the Advisory Boards of LinkedIn, the National Gallery, the Royal Society and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.

MEET OUR PATRONS

Learn from Europe's most respected AI and tech leaders

Boardwave Patrons are the experienced leaders who have helped define European tech in their respective roles and fields. They've spent careers building successful businesses. Now they're helping the next generation scale faster.

Ajaz Ahmed

Founder, Studio.One ; Founder AKQA

Michel Akkermans

Serial Entrepreneur, Private Investor, Advisor and Board Member
Belgium

Léo Apotheker

Chairman; Syncron, Eudonet, Harvest; Former CEO, SAP & HP; Boardwave NED
Switzerland

Rod Banner

CEO, 3LA

Chris Bayne

CEO, The Access Group

Sabine Bendiek

Plural Chairperson & NED; Sensio, Suse, VISTRA, Schaeffler; Former Chief People Officer SAP, Managing Director, Microsoft GmbH
Germany

James Bennet MBE

Former Partner EY

Maurizio Carli

Board Member, Temenos & Board International; former NED TIM, EVP WW VMware

Rory Cellan-Jones

Technology Writer, Podcast & Consultant; Author & ex-BBC Technology Correspondent

Shruthi Chindular

NED & Board Member, Access Group & Byte Technology

Sir Nick Clegg

General Partner at Hiro Capital | Former President, Global Affairs, Meta | Former UK Deputy PM; leader of the Liberal Democrats; member of Parliament.

Franck Cohen

Venture Partner & Board Advisor; Chairman GoCardless,CYE,Geektime
France

Jean-Philippe Courtois

President & Co-founder, Live for Good; Former President, Microsoft Corp
France

Sherry Coutu CBE

Independent NED Pearson, Standard Life, Raspberry Pi

Melissa Di Donato

CEO and Chair, Kyriba; NED, Porsche AG, iNED JP Morgan (Europe) Ltd; Former CEO SUSE, Board Member DSIT

Jose Duarte

Chairman & Investor; Chair proALPHA, Hallo, Tax Systems
Portugal

Vincenzo Esposito

CEO, Microsoft Italy

Chano Fernandez

Co-CEO, Klaviyo; Former Co-CEO eightfold and Workday

Steve Garnett

Angel Investor & Board Member; former President & Chair Salesforce Europe

Angie Gifford

Technology & Strategy Advisor for Goldman Sachs Portfolio Companies; Formerly Vice President EMEA, Meta; Supervisory Board Member, TUI, Rothschild & Co
Germany

Nezahat Gultekin

Independent Board Member, Logo Yazilim
Turkey

Fred Hessabi

Investor, Advisor, Board Member; Strategic Advisor C3.ai, NED Intescia
France

Louise Hill

Founder & Executive Chair, GoHenry

Pascal Houillon

Board Member, Volta Software; formerly, President and CEO, Cegid
France

Nic Humphries

Senior Partner & Executive Chair, Hg

Stephen Kelly

Company Builder & Entrepreneur, Angel Investor & Advisor; CEO Cirata, Former CEO Sage

Esther Kerstholt

Creator Boardwave Exec Coaching Programme, Co-Founder Aberkyn; C-Suite Exec Coaching & Leadershiip Development
Netherlands

Martina King

Board Chair, Luminance; former CEO Featurespace

Wol Kolade

Managing Partner, Livingbridge; Deputy Chair, NHS England; Co-Founder, 10,000 Black Interns

Stephane Kurgan

Venture Partner, Index Ventures, Founder Queen, former COO King (Candy Crush)

Federico Leproux

CEO, TeamSystem Group

Dawn Marriott

Serial Exec Chair, Geomartikk, team.blue,Kinapse; Former Partner Hg, Joint COO Capita

Jonathan McKay

Investor & Chairman, Chair Move.ai & Driftrock; Non Executive Director, Boardwave

Oystein Moan

Executive Chair, VISMA
Norway

Mattia Mor

Entrepreneur & Producer, Founder & CEO Emotion Network; former Member Italian Parliament, Sr Vice President Alibaba Europe (Mei.com, Lazada)

Elona Mortimer-Zhika

Chair, NED, Investor, Mentor; Former CEO IRIS Software Group

Vin Murria, OBE

Chair, CEO, Founder, NED & Investor; Softcat, Bunzl, ADVT, Molten Ventures

Gavin Patterson

NED, Advisor & Investor; Chair Kraken, Kahoot! NED Ocado; Former President Salesforce WW, CEO BT PLC

Erin Platts

CEO, Octopus Ventures; Former CEO HSBC Innovation Bank, Silicon Valley Bank

Jean-Pierre Saad

Managing Partner, CVC

Franz-Josef Seidensticker

Board Member & Investor; former Chair proAlpha, Wittur Group & Board Member, BAIN & Co
Germany

Emma Sinclair MBE

CEO, EnterpriseAlumni, Business Journalist - The Telegraph; former G7 & Unicef Advisor

Karen Slatford

Chair Bright Software, Chair Autorek and Chair Zaptic

Peter Sweetbaum

Chair, Focus Group; formerly CEO, Ethixbase360; CEO, Content+Cloud

Simon Walsh

CEO, OneAdvanced

Adam Warby

Chair, Ocado Group, Heidrick & Struggles; Non-Exec Director VISMA

Rich Waterworth

Founder & Former General Manager, Europe, TikTok

Gillian Wilmot CBE

Chair, ZOO Digital Group; formerly MD, Royal Mail; NED, Admiral Group plc; NED, Nisa Retail

Trusted and supported by Europe's leading investors and advisors

STRATEGIC Partners
Hg
McKinsey & Company
Alliance Partners
Alantra
Albertine
Alpha Advisory
Amazon Web Services
A&O Shearman
Arma Partners
ASSOSoftware
Bank of America
Berenberg
Canaccord Genuity Partners
Crosslake
Deloitte
Egon
Farringford Legal
Gazelle Law
GP Bullhound
Heidrick & Struggles
H.I.E.C
HSBC Innovation Banking
IBM
Jamieson
Jefferies
La Fosse
LegalEdge
Liberty Corporate Finance
London Stock Exchange
Mindstone
OC&C
Portolano
Propel
Rothschild & Co
Rothschild & Co Wealth Management
Russell Reynolds Associates
Snowball
Solano Partners
Stifel
SuperScalers
Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the United Kingdom
Techspace
Teneo
Travers Smith
UBS
VenturePath
West Peak
Wilson Sonsini
Xoriant
INVESTOR Partners
A3c
Advent International
Apax Partners
Ares Management
AshGrove Capital
August Equity
Axiom Equity
Bain Capital
BC Partners
Beringea
BGF
Blackstone
Bridgepoint
Carlyle
CINVEN
Dawn Capital
FirstPartyCapital
Five Arrows
FPE
Francisco Partners
Frog Capital
GCP - Growth Capital Partners
Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Hellman & Friedman
H.I.G. Capital
Highland Europe
KKR
Livingbridge
Mercia Ventures
Oakley Capital
Osprey
Oxx
Permira
Rivean Capital
Sixth Street
Skøyen Software
Smedvig Capital
TA Associates
Thoma Bravo
Upliift
Ventech
Verdane
Warburg Pincus