Board Intelligence, a leading AI-driven firm enhancing boardroom performance, has sold a majority stake to Californian private equity house K1, valuing the London-based business at up to $300 million (£230 million).
This significant investment will see multimillion-pound payouts to founders Jennifer Sundberg, 44, and Pippa Begg, 40. The founders plan to leverage K1’s investment to drive the international expansion of the business they established in 2009.
Board Intelligence boasts a client base of 3,000, including prominent names like John Lewis, National Grid, and ITV. The company operates three primary divisions: an advisory consultancy service and two IT arms. One IT division manages a secure portal for distributing board papers, while the other offers an AI tool named Lucia, which assists boards in evaluating the balance of the reports they receive. “If you’re writing a report and it’s 100 per cent good news, that’s probably not a balanced report,” explained Begg.
Before K1’s investment, Sundberg, Begg, and their families owned 40% of the company, with 12% held by 120 employees, 8% by angel investors such as boardroom veteran Sir John Egan, and 41% by private equity firm Susquehanna, which is now exiting. Most existing shareholders are maintaining their stakes, except for one angel investor, the estate of the late Sir Mike Wilson, founder of St James’s Place.
While specific transaction terms were not disclosed, Board Intelligence has seen substantial growth, doubling its valuation from $100 million three years ago. Despite a loss of £859,000 in 2022, as reported in its latest Companies House filings, the company has since returned to profitability.
Sir John Egan, a former CEO of Jaguar and BAA, supported the company for its potential to streamline boardroom documentation. “I had just started work as a non-executive chairman and was appalled at the huge board packs — often 200 to 300 pages long — and also that, often, little thought had gone into what the board meeting itself was supposed to achieve,” he said.
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AI firm secures $300m valuation in major US private equity deal