Eileen Burbidge

Eileen Burbidge
MBE
Burbidge in 2023
Born (1971-06-16) 16 June 1971 (age 53)
Chicago, Illinois, US
NationalityBritish-American
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, Go Cardless 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. After working at Skype, Burbidge launched Passion Capital, an early-stage London venture capital firm, with Stefan Glaenzer in 2008.[6]

In 2015, Burbidge was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to entrepreneurship in the New Year honours list.[7]

In July 2015, she was appointed as the British Treasury's "special envoy" for fintech.[8][9]

In November 2018, Burbidge was named to the Financial Times' list of the 'Top 100 minority ethnic leaders in technology'.[10]

In January 2019, she joined the board of Currys plc as a non-executive director.[11]

In October 2020, Burbidge was added to Computer Weekly's Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame. This list is published annually to recognise women who have had a long career in the tech sector and/or made a lasting contribution to the sector.[12]

Personal life

Burbidge has also used the names Eileen Tso and Eileen Broch, her maiden name and her name from a previous marriage, respectively.[13]

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][14]

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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c Weeks, Ryan (29 June 2020). "An Audience With Eileen Burbidge: 'I was a Silicon Valley cliché'". Financial News. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  6. ^ Fenn, Donna. "How did an American woman become queen of British VCs?". Fortune. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Eileen Burbidge: The Passionate VC". Informilo. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  8. ^ "UK Treasury names Eileen Burbidge special envoy for fintech - Business Insider". Uk.businessinsider.com. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  9. ^ "UK Government Productivity Plan" (PDF). Gov.UK. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  10. ^ "The UK's top 100 black and minority ethnic leaders in technology". Financial Times. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  11. ^ "Board of Directors". www.currysplc.com. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Entrants to the Hall of Fame". October 2020.
  13. ^ "About: Eileen Burbidge". TechAcute. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  14. ^ McGoogan, Cara (7 August 2018). "Eileen Burbidge: 'We should stamp out mediocre men at work'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 September 2024.