Blackbird appoints Anne de Kerckhove to the Board and John Honeycutt steps down from the Board

Posted: 04/03/2024

4 March, London – Blackbird plc (AIM: BIRD), the developer and seller of the market-leading cloud video platform, Blackbird, is pleased to announce that Anne de Kerckhove will join the Company’s Board on 6 March 2024 as the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair. Additionally, John Honeycutt, Independent Non-Executive Director, will be stepping down on the same date.

Anne is an experienced international executive with a wealth of relevant experience in technology, B2B and B2C SaaS, Media and Entertainment, e-commerce, marketplaces and digital transformation, and in helping businesses scale. She also has extensive Non-Executive Director experience of publicly quoted and private companies, including at:; i) AIM-quoted Eagle Eye Solutions Group plc, where she chairs the Board; ii) 888 Holdings plc, where she is a Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Nominations and ESG committees and is a member of the Remuneration committee; iii) 7Digital Group Limited; and iv) Metail Limited. After working as a banker in Canada and then a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in London, Anne focused her career on technology and innovation. Until January 2023, Anne de Kerckhove was the CEO of Freespee, a company in the customer experience orchestration space. Before that, Anne held several Managing Director roles in fast growing companies such as Videology, an online advertising technology platform and Inspired Gaming Group.

Anne is an angel investor, mentor and Limited Partner in over 20 early-stage start-ups and entrepreneurial funds including CRE, Daphni, Andela, Flutterwave and Carlili. She is actively involved in promoting women, both on boards and within the technology industry, and is a speaker at business conferences and events. She is also a guest lecturer at INSEAD. Anne holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and an MBA from INSEAD.

In addition, the Company announces that John Honeycutt, independent Non-Executive Director is standing down from the Board on 6 March 2024 in order to focus on his expanding North International American client base. The Board would like to thank John for his valuable contributions over the last four years and to wish him well with his future endeavours.

Andrew Bentley, Chairman of the Company, said: “We are delighted that Anne is joining the Board where we know she will make a great contribution. Anne has a wealth of relevant and valuable experience. We very much look forward to working with her particularly as we move into this next chapter of product development in the creator economy”.

“I would also like to thank John for his support and the great insights he has provided us with over the last four years.”

Ian McDonough, CEO of the Company, said: “To have someone of Anne’s leadership and strategic calibre join us as a Senior Independent Non-Executive Director at this time will help myself, the Board and the executive team enormously. Her wealth of knowledge and successful experiences in B2C and B2B SaaS businesses will be of immense value as we launch our new direct to creator platform, elevate.io, as well as operating our award-winning professional platform, Blackbird.”

Anne de Kerckhove said: “I am delighted to join the Blackbird plc board. The Company has an impressive track record of video creation and editing with some of the biggest brands in media and entertainment and at many of the world’s most important sporting events. Now, the launch of   elevate.io ,  aimed at the creator economy, brings a significant and  exciting  new growth market to the business. I am looking forward to working with Andrew, Ian, my fellow board members, and the executive team to drive the business forward.”