Bindi Karia has joined Silicon Valley Bank’s UK branch to lead the firm’s efforts in the early stage “accelerator” space.
Karia (pictured), currently the venture capital/emerging business lead at Microsoft UK, will begin the newly created role in January 2013, reporting into Phil Cox, head of EMEA and India and president of the bank’s UK branch.
Cox says: “This new appointment demonstrates Silicon Valley Bank’s commitment to the UK technology scene. Bindi is extremely well connected within the industry and we are delighted to have her on board to drive our growth efforts for new banking clients in the Accelerator space. Bindi’s knowledge and enthusiasm for the emerging ecosystem of entrepreneurs and investors will be a tremendous asset to our business.”
As the VC/emerging business lead for Microsoft UK and the UK representative of the Silicon Valley emerging business team, Karia led BizSpark and BizSpark One in the UK for close to five years, where she focused on driving Microsoft’s success in the early-stage technology market. Bindi is also accustomed to working alongside the UK investor community, sitting on many advisory boards, including Seedcamp, Astia, EVCA – Digital Agenda Task Force, SVC2UK CEO Day, and BCS Entrepreneurs.
“As a commercial bank that is focused solely on the innovation space and entrepreneurs, Silicon Valley Bank’s offering is entirely unique in the UK market. I am excited to join the team and relish the opportunity to continue to support emerging technology businesses. This is, of course, where my passion lies and I cannot wait to join the team and share my vision to drive the business forward,” says Karia.
Karia is well recognised for her work with emerging companies and entrepreneurs: Wired UK Top 100 Digital Power Broker list from 2010 – 2012, Women of the Year Awards list, 2012 Girls in Tech Euro 100 Women’s list, one of the Six Most Connected Women in the UK by the IoD in 2011, and a finalist for Asian Business Woman of the Year in the 2010 AWA Awards. She was also given a special mention in the 2010 TechCrunch Europas Awards as Best Startup Advisor/Mentor of the Year, and re-nominated in 2011.
