On Monday 5 August 2024, we announced the start of an exciting new chapter for Board Intelligence: a strategic investment from K1 Investment Management that will help us drive the next phase of our growth. Thank you to everyone who has supported our journey so far, and in particular our clients, colleagues, and investors past and present. We’re looking forward to working with K1 to transform the effectiveness of even more boards and leadership teams around the world.
Manhattan Beach, California, and London, UK, 5 August 2024 — K1 Investment Management (“K1”), one of the largest investors in small-cap enterprise software companies, today announced a strategic growth investment in Board Intelligence, a leading board management software platform. This investment allows Board Intelligence to strengthen its category-leading position through organic growth, product, and geographic expansion and strategic acquisitions.
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Board Intelligence is trusted by over 40,000 leaders across 3,000 organizations worldwide. Clients include global organizations such as Generali, Schroders, Nationwide, Zurich Insurance Group, Aston Martin, and Sage alongside major public sector organizations such as the National Health Service (NHS).
Established in 2010 by founders Jennifer Sundberg and Pippa Begg, Board Intelligence provides software and services that drive better board decision-making. Board Intelligence serves as a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 and Global 2000 chairs and CEOs, helping to optimize board performance. The Board Intelligence board portal is a highly secure system of record, used by board members worldwide to access and collaborate on their board documents. Lucia, an AI-powered report-writing platform, assists management teams in preparing shorter, sharper reports for their boards.
“We are thrilled to partner with Jennifer and Pippa to build on Board Intelligence’s strong market position,” said Brian Beard, K1. “We have followed their journey for over five years and their dedication to improving boardroom decision-making with innovative AI tools and strategic insights is remarkable. Our investment is a reflection of their category leadership and our confidence in extending that leadership position across corporate clients and public sector organizations globally.”
Jennifer Sundberg, co-founder and co-CEO of Board Intelligence, said: “Our mission is to transform the effectiveness of every board in the world. K1’s vision for the future of Board Intelligence and their proven expertise in building category leaders will be instrumental in expanding the value we deliver to our clients.”
Pippa Begg, co-founder and co-CEO of Board Intelligence added: “While we have been profitable and did not need capital, we partnered with K1 because of their operational expertise in scaling companies globally through organic and inorganic growth, and their increasing investment in AI. K1 has a history of building category leaders, and we are excited to leverage their experience to strengthen our product offering.”
K1 will assume the position of the only institutional shareholder in Board Intelligence, with both Jennifer Sundberg and Pippa Begg continuing as minority shareholders. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Board Intelligence is K1’s latest transaction following the recent sale of GoCanvas to Nemetschek Group (FRA:NEM). The sale of GoCanvas contributed to K1’s recent period of successful realizations, culminating in $1.7B of liquidity since December 2023.
Fieldfisher LLP and Cooley LLP served as legal advisors to Board Intelligence, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to K1.
Board Intelligence, the UK’s largest board technology and advisory firm, is trusted by over 40,000 leaders and 3,000 organizations from Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 corporates, to drive high-impact decision-making and governance. For more information, visit boardintelligence.com and follow on LinkedIn.
K1 is one of the largest investors in small-cap enterprise software companies. Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, K1 partners with strong management teams of high-growth software businesses, using operationally-focused growth strategies to rapidly scale portfolio companies. Dedicated to transforming industries and driving productivity, K1 has collaborated with over 240 enterprise software companies since its inception.
K1’s exclusive focus, driven by its single team, single office, and single fund strategy, has resulted in realisations for many of its portfolio companies. Examples include Apttus (sold to Thoma Bravo), Buildium (sold to RealPage, NASDAQ: RP), Certent (sold to insightsoftware), Checkmarx (sold to Insight Partners and Hellman & Friedman), Clarizen (sold to Planview), FMG Suite (sold to Aurora Capital Partners), GoCanvas (sold to Nemetschek Group, FRA: NEM), Granicus (sold to Vista Equity Partners and Harvest Partners), Inthinc (sold to Orbcomm, NASDAQ: ORBC), Litera (sold to Hg Capital), Rave Mobile Safety (sold to TCV; now owned by Motorola Solutions, NYSE: MSI), TeamDynamix (sold to Level Equity), Unified (now owned by iHeartMedia), WorkForce Software (now owned by Insight Partners and Elliott Investment Management), and Zapproved (sold to Exterro).
For more information, visit k1.com and follow K1 Investment Management on LinkedIn.
Julia Wright, Edelman Smithfield
julia.wright@edelmansmithfield.com
+44 (0) 7900 227672
Alfie Tisdall, Edelman Smithfield
alfie.tisdall@edelmansmithfield.com
+44 (0) 7 581 025 104
Leah Mosteller, K1
lmosteller@k1.com
+1 (424) 634-1038