Boardwave

Last updated

Boardwave
Formation2022
Founder Phill Robinson
Website https://www.boardwave.org

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]

Contents

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]

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]

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

References

  1. ↑ Macaulay, Thomas (2 March 2023). "To challenge big tech, European startups need their own Nasdaq". TNW | Ecosystems. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  2. ↑ "Creating powerful relationships that aim to transform Europe into a software superpower". Agent3 - Home. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  3. ↑ "Why Europe's 'lonely' tech entrepreneurs need help". BBC News. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  4. ↑ Staff, Entrepreneur UK (3 December 2024). "Scaling UK Software Startups Globally with Phill Robinson". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  5. ↑ Randall, Kim-Adele (3 July 2024). "The Gender Funding Gap: Understanding the Disparity for Female Founders | Authentic Achievements" . Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  6. ↑ "If Sunak wants us to be the next Silicon Valley, CEOs need a much stronger community around them". www.managementtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  7. ↑ Boardwave. "BOARDWAVE APPOINTS ITS FIRST BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AS IT REACHES 1,000 EUROPEAN MEMBERS MILESTONE IN FIRST 18 MONTHS". www.prnewswire.co.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  8. ↑ Coulter, Martin (27 March 2024). ""Exclusive: Software industry calls for more UK government support". Reuters. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  9. ↑ Upliift (4 March 2024). "Boardwave Launch Event in Milan - Upliift" . Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  10. ↑ "Pensar a lo grande o por qué Europa igualará a Silicon Valley". La Razón (in Spanish). 29 September 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  11. ↑ "You.com Announces Partnership with Boardwave To Bring AI-Powered Productivity To The European Software Industry". Yahoo. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  12. ↑ Wood, Anna. "Boardwave and Mindstone partner to address AI skills and knowledge gap in software". Startups Magazine. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  13. ↑ Ferretti, Paul (29 February 2024). "To create a masterpiece: Boardwave partners with Mindstone to address the AI skills and knowledge gap in the software industry". Maddyness UK. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  14. ↑ Holloway, Charlotte (12 December 2024). "Seizing the scale-up moment". Future Governance Forum. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  15. ↑ "Podcast". Be Categorical. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  16. ↑ "Phillip M. Robinson, Jr. Named CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment to Drive National Impact for Youth". Yahoo! Finance – PR Newswire. 29 May 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  17. ↑ "Jonathan McKay (Boardwave Ltd) - Director Profile - Endole". open.endole.co.uk. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  18. ↑ "Boardwave APK Download for Android – Latest Version". APKPure. 2 June 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  19. ↑ Sehdev, Aamanh; Gagnon, Julien; Padgett, Nick; Schaubroeck, Ruben; Sinclair, Imogen; Robinson, Phill (2 June 2025). "Europe's moonshot moment: Fueling its tech ecosystem for scale". McKinsey & Company. Retrieved 3 September 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ IO+, Team (3 June 2025). "Europe misses opportunity to become world leader in software". IO+. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  21. ↑ Geschwindt, Siôn (2 June 2025). "European software sector at critical 'inflection point,' warns McKinsey". TNW | Ecosystems. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  22. ↑ "Europe's Moonshot Moment: New Industry Report Suggests Now Is Europe's Time to Lead in Global Software". Yahoo! Finance. 1 June 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  23. ↑ Murray, Kirsten (17 January 2023). "European Software Industry helps fund research to cure Parkinson's". Cure Parkinson's. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  24. ↑ "Advancing Health Equity Through The CMS Innovation Center: First Year Progress And What's To Come" . Forefront Group. 11 May 2023. doi:10.1377/forefront.20230509.277096 . Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  25. ↑ Cellan-Jones, Rory (18 March 2023). "Movers and Shakers - a Parkinson's podcast". Rory’s Always On Newsletter. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  26. ↑ Allen, Patricia (12 December 2022). "Supercharging European software success through community | Interview with Boardwave founder Phill Robinson". EU-Startups. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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