Eileen Burbidge

Eileen Burbidge
MBE
Burbidge in 2023
Born (1971-06-16) 16 June 1971
Chicago, Illinois, US
EducationUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (BS)
OccupationBusinesswoman
TitleFounding Partner, Passion Capital

Eileen Burbidge MBE (born 16 June 1971) is a British-American venture capitalist based in London, UK. She is a founding partner of Passion Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm that has invested in Monzo, GoCardless, Round Treasury and Lulu, a private social network for single women.[1][2]

Early life and education

Burbidge was born on 16 June 1971 in Chicago to a civil engineer father and a mother who worked in finance.[3][4] She was educated at Naperville Central High School and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in computer science.[3][5]

Career

Burbidge started her career working as an engineering associate at GTE and Verizon Wireless.[5] She then worked in marketing roles at Apple and Sun Microsystems. She had brief stints as business development director at Openwave followed by the 12 Entrepreneuring incubator.[5] In 2004 she moved from the United States to London to pursue a career with Skype.[6] After working at Skype, Burbidge launched Passion Capital, an early-stage London venture capital firm, with Stefan Glaenzer in 2008.[7]

In 2015, Burbidge was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to entrepreneurship in the New Year honours list.[8]

In July 2015, Burbidge was appointed as the British Treasury's "special envoy" for fintech.[9][10] In September 2015, Burbidge was also appointed Chair of Tech City UK, the government-backed organisation supporting digital businesses across the UK, succeeding Baroness Joanna Shields.[11] The organisation was relaunched as Tech Nation in 2017.

In November 2018, Burbidge was named to the Financial Times' list of the 'Top 100 minority ethnic leaders in technology'.[12]

In January 2019, Burbidge joined the board of Dixons Carphone (now Currys plc) as a non-executive director.[13]

In January 2020, Burbidge stepped down from the Tech Nation chairmanship after four and a half years in the role, and was succeeded by Stephen Kelly.[14] In October 2020, Burbidge was added to Computer Weekly's Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame.[15]

In 2022, Burbidge became executive director of Fertifa, a UK fertility and reproductive health benefits company that had previously received investment from Passion Capital.[16]

In 2023, Burbidge appeared on the Forbes Midas List Europe of top European tech investors.[17]

Personal life

Burbidge has also used the names Eileen Tso and Eileen Broch, her maiden name and her name from a previous marriage, respectively.[18]

Burbidge is twice divorced. She separated from her first husband around 2004. From her second marriage, she has three sons and a daughter, and with her current partner, she also has a stepdaughter.[3][19]

References

  1. ↑ "How did an American, Eileen Burbidge, become queen of British VCs?". Fortune. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Treanor, Jill (21 August 2015). "Eileen Burbidge: the American angel investor spearheading UK fintech | Business". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Loizou, Kiki (22 August 2015). "Come on, Eileen: tomorrow's tech giants are relying on you v2". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  4. ↑ Broomfield, Emma (2 December 2018). "A Life in the Day: venture capitalist Eileen Burbidge on sexism, motherhood and women in tech". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Weeks, Ryan (29 June 2020). "An Audience With Eileen Burbidge: 'I was a Silicon Valley cliché'". Financial News. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  6. ↑ "The Skype Mafia: Who Are They And Where Are They Now?". Forbes. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  7. ↑ Fenn, Donna. "How did an American woman become queen of British VCs?". Fortune. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "Eileen Burbidge: The Passionate VC". Informilo. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "UK Treasury names Eileen Burbidge special envoy for fintech - Business Insider". Uk.businessinsider.com. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "UK Government Productivity Plan" (PDF). Gov.UK. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "Passion Capital's Eileen Burbidge Appointed Chair Of Tech City UK". TechCrunch. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  12. ↑ "The UK's top 100 black and minority ethnic leaders in technology". Financial Times. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  13. ↑ "Board of Directors". www.currysplc.com. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  14. ↑ "Tech Nation chairman Eileen Burbidge steps down". BusinessCloud. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  15. ↑ "Entrants to the Hall of Fame". October 2020.
  16. ↑ "Passion Capital founder Eileen Burbidge to lead UK femtech Fertifa". Sifted. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "The Midas List Europe 2023". Startups Magazine. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "About: Eileen Burbidge". TechAcute. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  19. ↑ McGoogan, Cara (7 August 2018). "Eileen Burbidge: 'We should stamp out mediocre men at work'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
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