Technology

Posted on January 28, 2020 by staff

Tech Nation chairman Eileen Burbidge steps down

Technology

The Chairman of government-backed tech industry group Tech Nation is to step down from the role after five years.

Eileen Burbidge MBE joined Tech City’s board in 2015, which was relaunched as Tech Nation in 2017.

The American born, London-based venture capitalist is well known in the technology industry, having worked in roles at the likes of Yahoo!, Skype, and Apple.

She is the founding partner of Passion Capital, an early-stage VC firm which has previously backed FinTech leaders Monzo and Go Cardless.

Burbidge was made an MBE for services to Business in June 2015, and July of the same year was appointed as the British Treasury’s “special envoy” for FinTech. In 2018 she was appointed as a non-executive director at Dixons Carphone.

She was also closely involved in the launch of UK FinTech Tide, but stepped down from the role last year after a £44m funding round which saw the appointment of two new investment directors.

This week Burbidge’s Passion Capital invested in AI start-up chAI, which predicts price fluctuations in the world’s key raw materials.

Tech Nation, which is now on the hunt for a replacement, is tasked with promoting the UK’s tech sector through its media campaigns and industry reports alongside supporting new tech entrepreneurs through industry-specific programmes.

It was launched as Tech City in the capital by previous Prime Minister David Cameron in 2011, before combining its northern equivalent Tech North– to become Tech Nation.

Burbidge leaves a board which includes Tech Nation CEO Gerard Grech, who also sits on the board of arts centre Barbican.

Grech wrote on Twitter: “Huge thank you to @eileentso for all the support, guidance and energy, helping drive UK tech forward from Tech City to Tech Nation.”

The board also includes Emma Jones, the founder of Enterprise Nation; Lesley Eccles, co-founder of FanDuel and founder and CEO of Relish, and David Richards, the founder and CEO of WANdisco.

Burbidge told the Telegraph: “It has been a privilege to have served as chair of Tech Nation over the last four and a half years as the company has grown to be a UK-wide entrepreneur network.”