A serial entrepreneur has invested a ‘significant six figure’ sum on a new tech platform that he says will ditch 鈥榝luffy content鈥� in favour of genuine business contacts.
North West-based Ian Wright has spent 18 months building his new business – Board.AI 鈥� in response to complaints that traditional channels like LinkedIn have become 鈥榝aux social media platforms鈥�.
The 43-year-old said Board.AI鈥檚聽algorithm can鈥檛 discriminate on things like gender, ethnicity, sexuality or religion because it doesn鈥檛 ask those questions in the first place.
鈥淏oard.AI removes the white noise that is content,鈥� explained Wright. 鈥淚f you strip it back to basics its AI technology is focused solely on finding the right business match for its users, based on skills. It鈥檚 that simple.
鈥淧eople are time poor so it only invites you to one meeting a week and you can decide what it is you want to achieve from it.
鈥淔or example, if you’re looking for a fractional, non-exec or portfolio director role, you can tell it that you’re looking for that and the technology will know your sector, expertise and location and match you to a business or headhunter that is looking for somebody with your sector experience.鈥�
Board.AI already has 15,000 users and Wright is planning a rollout that will add another 50,000 accounts to the platform before it switches to a paid for model.
Wright has previously sold two tech companies and is聽now an investor and non-executive director to Liverpool-based聽,聽North West animation SaaS business Viddyoze and international online retailer Street Solutions UK.
In 2019 he launched聽聽and has grown it into the聽UK鈥檚 largest community of non-exec directors.
Diversity is innovation: why you need a collective, diverse STEM workforce
Fed up of ‘fluffy’ content
He decided to launch Board.AI after becoming frustrated at the amount of 鈥榝luffy content鈥� on platforms like LinkedIn.
鈥淟inkedIn has 830 million members worldwide but instead of the personal updates that some people like, I just want to use it to do more business,鈥� said Wright.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where Board.AI comes in. It’s a C suite and board level connecting platform that is wholly delivered by using an algorithm.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of talk about ending discrimination but oddly, platforms ask all the questions of their users which others may use to actually discriminate! Board.AI 聽doesn鈥檛 need to know its users鈥� gender, race, sexuality, pronouns or religion. The algorithm is only concerned with finding a great match.鈥�
Solving business problems
Wright said in addition to being a 鈥榤atching platform鈥�, Board.AI was also focused on solving common business problems through its extended network.
鈥淩ather than connect with a million people, users want to connect with the most relevant one that can actually help,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he beauty of Board AI is it can also help answer common business challenges.
鈥淔or example, I鈥檓 a non-exec in various businesses and I can use it to help my clients. It also helps me find co-founders, raise finance etc.
鈥淚鈥檝e just met a fantastic family business with a 拢22m turnover and 拢2m net profit. They have 100+ staff but have no meaningful external accounting help or management team.
Exchange support scheme on hunt for next gen of tech startups
鈥淎s a result the owners are under incredible pressure. Board.AI allows them to come to the platform, share a challenge around not having an accountant and Board.AI will automatically make introductions to three national accountancy firms who form part of a panel 聽They can decide who they want to speak to. That then initiates a series of free consultations.
鈥淭hat can be for any of the headaches that a business owner typically has, from tax, employment law or a legal issue. The possibilities are endless.
鈥淭his is only concerned with making business contacts. It鈥檚 not concerned with being a social media platform. That鈥檚 the difference.鈥�