Boardwave

Looking to supercharge your growth journey in 2025? At the heart of our new Boardwave Accelerate Programme, Boardwave Breakout Groups uniquely support your personalised scaling journey, by bringing together a small group of 6-8 like-minded founders, CEOs, and leaders from across the software sector to share insights, solve challenges, and accelerate their businesses - together. Groups are thoughtfully curated based on growth stage, location (including a virtual pan-European cohort), and focus sectors or interests, ensuring you connect with peers who truly understand your challenges and goals. Each cohort is assigned a Coach or Moderator, who will conduct sessions in the local language, and who will be with you throughout your group's development journey. We also match groups with one of our Patrons or Nextwavers, who are some of the industry's most successful leaders. And when you need external professional help, for tricky problems you can't solve together, you have access to a panel of Boardwave Experts for additional guidance and support. Hear some of our members and moderators speak about the transformative impact of being part of a Breakout Group. From valuable connections to practical support, find out why it’s been essential for their growth. Ready to take your business to the next level? Apply now to be part of our next induction in January: https://lnkd.in/egvVbebc #Boardwave #MakingWaves

Boardwave’s mission is to accelerate the growth of the European Software industry, by providing our members with the tools they need to fuel the success of their businesses. However, how do you measure success, and how do you know if you’re successful compared to others in the industry? We’re very excited to announce our partnership with BenchSights, the software and analytics platform for benchmarking SaaS businesses. Unlike traditional surveys, which can often be laborious and ill-suited, BenchSights allows members to input their data easily,  resulting in robust, up-to-date analytics. You can hear more about this partnership from our co-founder and CEO Phill Robinson, and BenchSights' founder and CEO David Spitz, in the video below. If you are a Boardwave member looking to benchmark your business against both fellow private and public companies in the industry, log in to Boardwave’s new platform here: https://lnkd.in/eVqMFFnd #Boardwave #MakingWaves

In the first episode of our new eight session series, Joel Greenwood, Founder of Alpha Advisory Partners LLP, sits down with Laura Maddison, Partner at Arma Partners, Anton Black, Partner and Head of Technology at Rothschild & Co, and Thomas AP Koehrer, Co-Head of EMEA TMT Investment Banking & Head of EMEA Tech Investment Banking at Bank of America. The session gives an overview of M&A markets, what makes a successful exit, key exit objectives and stakeholder alignment. The experts also touch on how to make your business saleable, the process options, and who should buy your business. Boardwave members can watch the session here: https://lnkd.in/ettvc6fc #Boardwave #MakingWaves

We’re excited to announce another year of deeply valued partnership with HSBC Innovation Banking.   HSBC Innovation Banking plays a vital role in supporting organisations within the Boardwave network, across multiple growth stages, providing incredible insights such as their recent Venture Capital Term Sheet Guide, and partnering with us to deliver our annual Boardwave Live conference - with an even bigger event in the works this year.    Simon Bumfrey, CEO of HSBC Innovation Banking UK: “Boardwave occupies a unique position within the software ecosystem as the insights and network of leading founders and CEOs is extremely valuable. I’m delighted that we, HSBC Innovation Banking, will continue our partnership with the team, delivering top-tier engagements during 2025, including the Boardwave Live conference later in the year.“ Here’s to continuing to grow a thriving and inclusive European software network together. Thanks for being on board, HSBC Innovation Banking! #Boardwave #MakingWaves

It’s great to see Boardwave member Sarah Daniel, Co-CEO and Co-Founder at Hey Savi, speak on the special edition episode of Disruptive, a vodcast brought to you by Boardwave partner Barclays Eagle Labs. Alongside host Katharine Morgan, and fellow female founder Rupa Ganatra Popat, Founder and Managing Partner of Araya Ventures, the three inspirational women share their insights into building a great business in today’s environment. You can access the vodcast, centred around the theme of ‘accelerate action’ by clicking here: https://lnkd.in/dEDhYBsZ #Boardwave #MakingWaves

Navigating the journey from founder to successful exit is a nuanced and often under-explored aspect of entrepreneurship, which requires specialist knowledge and preparation. Boardwave, in collaboration with Alpha Advisory Partners LLP, is proud to present Optimising Your Exit, an in-depth masterclass series designed to demystify the entire exit process. This series provides invaluable insights from both strategic and private equity buyer perspectives. Over eight comprehensive sessions, hosts Joel Greenwood and Phill Robinson engage with industry experts, including CEOs, private equity investors, investment banking advisers, and founders who have successfully exited their businesses. Our expert speakers include Laura Maddison, Arma Partners; Anton Black, Rothschild & Co, Thomas AP Koehrer, Bank of America; Nandan Shinkre, Jefferies; Nicholas Padgett, McKinsey & Company; Simon Peet, Livingbridge; Irina Hemmers, Thoma Bravo; Elona Mortimer-Zhika, Formerly IRIS Software Group; Dean Forbes, Forterro; Kiren Asad, Deloitte; Simon Hill, Liberty Corporate Finance; Karen Slatford, Bright Software, AutoRek, Zaptic; Virginie Fauvel, Harvest Groupe; Achim Weick, EQS Group; Barr Blanton, Crosslake Technologies; and Jake van Beever, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management. Each session is crafted to equip software leaders with essential knowledge, helping them approach the exit process with confidence and clarity. Watch the entire series on demand: https://lnkd.in/eJy83rAZ #Boardwave #MakingWaves

How do you try to avoid having a market debut as disastrous as Facebook’s IPO on Nasdaq? You sit down with Mark Zuckerberg and discuss the lessons learnt. How do you do that? You build a European company that has become world leader in digital casual games on Facebook, mobile and the web.   The latest episode of The Difference Engine tech strategy podcast is the first in a series of interviews of European tech leaders brought to you in association with Boardwave. The Boardwave network is a powerful community of tech Founders, CEOs, Chairs, Independent NEDs & their Investors from across Europe, representing software companies at every stage of development. This week Paul Maher and I are joined by Boardwave member Stephane Kurgan. A man of many accomplishments in the IT and associated investment industries, Stephane is best known for being the COO of European Category leader, King Digital Entertainment which became a multi-billion-dollar turnover organisation listed in Nasdaq before an eventual $5.9bn exit to Activision Blizzard. After the King exit, Stephane became an advisor to Alan - the first digital health insurance company in France. And, in April 2020, joined Index Ventures as a Venture Partner and has subsequently had board positions at Birdie, Codat, Fonoa, Omio as well as a series of other board and Advisor positions. But you can’t keep a good entrepreneur down and, in November 2022, he founded QDE Studio. Find out from Stephane just what it takes to build a tech Category leader out of Europe; the importance of investors who understand your business; why not to overestimate the difference between B2B and B2C, the many other lessons hard-won from his time in tech - including the result of that fateful meeting with Zuck – and why he’s starting up again. Click the link in the comments to listen to Episode 44 and all previous episodes of The Difference Engine 👇 #boardwave #CEO #chairs #NEDS #King #microsoft #activisionblizzard #nasdaq #ipo #indexventures #alan #birdie #codat #omio #qdestudio #socialgaming #category #categorydesign #coo #strategy #business #facebook #zuckerberg #casualgaming #management #leadership #meta #candycrush #startup #scaleup #strategy #techstrategy #casualgaming #tech #technology #mergers #acqusitions #mergersandacqusitions #mobile #indexventures #apaxpartners #mobilegaming

OakNorth x Boardwave – Year 2! We’re thrilled to welcome OakNorth for another year of Boardwave partnership. They’ve already generously shared invaluable insights with our members this year, from VIP workshops hosted by CEO Rishi Khosla and CAD Valentina Kristensen, to Rishi’s deep-dive Leaders’ Lives interview - giving our community an inside look at his journey and leadership philosophy. Valentina Kristensen, OakNorth: "Our partnership with Boardwave underscores our commitment to encouraging innovation, collaboration, and leadership within the software ecosystem. As members of Boardwave, we’re part of a growing, entrepreneurial community that empowers us to scale, share insights, and shape the future of the software industry together. The team has always been highly collaborative, proactive, and creative, coming up with new ideas on how else we can work together and ensure we continue to derive value from our partnership." And we’re just getting started - April brings two exciting events in collaboration with OakNorth, diving into the critical challenges of scaling and purpose-driven leadership. Bring on Year 2! #Boardwave #MakingWaves

Last night in Berlin, we had the privilege of hosting an exclusive dinner with Cassio Sampaio, ex-CPO of Auth0 and a key leader in Okta’s growth journey. This was our second Boardwave event in Europe this week, bringing together an incredible group of tech leaders to explore what it takes to scale a high-growth software company—from aligning product and pricing. Cassio Sampaio shared valuable insights on scaling SaaS businesses, drawing from his experience at Apple, Auth0, and Okta. Cassio discussed the importance of pricing strategies, especially post-acquisition, and the need for close team collaboration. Thank you to Cassio for sharing his expertise. A huge thank you to Chris Nagel for leading such a dynamic conversation and to Heidrick & Struggles for sponsoring the evening.   A fantastic evening of learning, networking, and engaging in discussions with our Boardwave members. #Boardwave #MakingWaves

We’re excited to welcome Berenberg, the world’s oldest investment bank (est. 1590), as our newest partner. With a Europe-wide presence and deep expertise in technology, fintech, AI, and SaaS, Berenberg is a trusted advisor for high-growth companies navigating capital markets, M&A, and fundraising. Laura Janssens, Head of the European Investment Bank: "We are thrilled to be joining the Boardwave community as a partner firm. With our Europe-wide, local presence and unrivalled distribution platform, Berenberg is a natural partner to support the community in its important goal to build up Europe as a software powerhouse." Mark Whitmore, Head of TMT, UK Investment Banking: "We are hugely excited to be joining Boardwave. I look forward to engaging with this inspiring community of entrepreneurs and supporting them with their future growth journeys." With £85bn+ raised through 400+ transactions since 2016, Berenberg’s expertise will be invaluable in helping our members scale faster. Welcome to the Boardwave community, Berenberg! #Boardwave #MakingWaves