Eileen Burbidge

2021 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award

Eileen Burbidge, MBE (BS CS ‘93) is a Partner at Passion Capital, the leading early-stage technology venture fund based in London. Described in Fortune Magazine as the"Queen of British VC", she brings extensive operational experience to her investment activities gleaned from business and product roles at Yahoo!, Skype, Apple and elsewhere. On behalf of Passion, Eileen serves as investor director on a number of fast growing Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) including Monzo Bank, Digital Shadows, Marshmallow, Tuune, Fertifa and Butternut Box, among others.

In addition to Passion Capital, Eileen is also the UK Treasury’s Special Envoy for FinTech appointed by the Chancellor; Tech Ambassador for the Mayor of London’s office and served on former UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s Business Advisory Group as well as Chair of Tech Nation for 5 years. Eileen is also a member of the board of Dixons Carphone, the FTSE 250-listed consumer electronics retailer. She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to Business in June 2015. 

From her start with companies like Verizon Wireless, Eileen established a track record for technical expertise that grew into commercial roles. This included positions such as Market Development Manager for Apple Computer, Group Manager for Market Development at Sun Microsystems, Director of Product at Skype and Director of Communication Products at Yahoo! Europe, among other roles.