Livingbridge launches Software Advisory Board

The board is chaired by Phill Robinson, who recently retired as CEO of Exact, where he remains a non-executive director of the supervisory board. Previously, Robinso was the CEO and then chairman of IRIS software, which became the largest UK private equity software buyout in 2018, according to Livingbridge. The rest of the board comprises Sanj Bahyro, Adrienne Gormley, Paul Smith and Charlie Pickering.

“I am thrilled to be chairing this new advisory board, comprised of exceptionally talented individuals who have excelled in their field,” Robinson said. “We look forward to working with Livingbridge to deliver long-term growth to its current investees, as well as identifying the best new opportunities in the sector.”

Bahyro currently serves as vice-president, EMEA sales for Intercom. Prior to this, he was vice-president for Operations & Customer Growth EMEA at Google Cloud and COO EMEA at Salesforce. He will provide support for go-to-market and sales strategies across Livingbridge software investees.

Gormley has spent the majority of her recent career at Dropbox, leaving as global VP of customer experience and head of EMEA to join N26 as COO in 2020. She recently left N26 and is focused on her plural career, which includes serving as independent non-executive director for Pleo and as independent board director for Epidemic Sound. She will help with customer success strategies across the portfolio, and is currently working with the team at RealVNC, a 2021 Livingbridge investment.

Smith is currently global chief commercial officer at ServiceNow, following an eight-year stint as executive VP and UK general manager of Salesforce. He will help Livingbridge investees build out their sales functions, supporting with team structures, hiring, compensation and sales strategies.

Pickering has more than 20 years of experience working with PE-backed organisations. He will help portfolio companies with their technology and product strategies, supporting their teams to turn market insight into commercial opportunities, Livingbridge said.

Founded more than 25 years ago, Livingbridge is a mid-market private equity firm with more than 100 staff across the UK, the US and Australia. It invests between £5-100m per investment, for both minority and majority stakes, in businesses with enterprise values of up to £300m. Portfolio companies include Loveholidays, M247, TitanHQ and Bright Futures.