Former Controller of BBC 1, Lorraine Heggessey, joins board of Data Science company Pivigo as part of funding round
Pivigo, the go-to platform for the data science community, has announced that one of the UK’s leading media executives, Lorraine Heggessey, is joining their board. This follows a successful funding round in which the company has secured the investment they need to take the business to the next stage. With financial backing from a powerful consortium of investors including Angel Academe, Craigie Capital, Dunamis Ventures and the London Co-Investment Fund, giving Pivigo further opportunities for their European growth.
Heggessey was introduced to the company through her membership of Angel Academe, a group that encourages women to get involved in angel investing and backs female-led tech companies. As the first woman to run BBC 1, Heggessey is a champion for women in business and has supported women in senior roles.
Heggessey said, “After learning how few women are angel investing and that it’s more difficult for women to raise start-up capital, particularly in the tech space, I decided to actively support female entrepreneurs through Angel Academe. Dr Nilsson impressed me with her vision and drive. I have seen the increasing importance to mainstream broadcasters and to new platforms of understanding data, particularly as more people are viewing on demand on mobile devices. Pivigo is an impressive business that has great potential and I look forward to working with them to grow the company and to help expand their work with media clients.”
Pivigo was founded in 2013 by entrepreneur and CEO, Dr Kim Nilsson, who could see the growing demand for data scientists and knew there was a pool of talent that was as yet untapped. Dr Nilsson set up a programme called S2DS (Science to Data Science) to give highly qualified academic scientists the skills they needed to operate in this commercial field.
Over the last three years Pivigo has worked with over 70 organisations; from large multi-nationals such as KPMG, Marks and Spencer, British Gas, Youview and Barclays to two-person start-ups, to help them harness the value of their data. Dr Nilsson believes that broadcasters and media businesses could be significantly enhanced by better use of data.
Dr Nilsson said,“I’m thrilled to have Lorraine join us on our board. Her experience and knowledge of the media world could open doors for Pivigo and grow the brand internationally.Lorraine understands the importance of Data Science and how access to a wide range of data can help improve the performance of broadcasters.Theycan use data science to not only have a deeper understanding of their viewers, but to tailor adverts for optimal effect and to predict the success of a programme idea with their target audiences. It will also aid broadcasters by optimising engagement and building loyalty through operating across different platforms and incorporating social media.”
Sarah Turner from Angel Academe said, “Our investment in Pivigo and appointing Lorraine to the board couldn’t have come at a better time. Only last week The BBC told Broadcastmagazine that it’s beginning to use data from its MyBBC project to influence commissioning decisions. And research has just been publishedwhich showsthat women are way better than men at picking successful women-led startups.We look forward to supporting Kim and her team with the resources of our mainly female angel syndicate.”
To find out more about Pivigo please visit www.pivigo.com
