As BoardBookit rebrands to Govenda, and expands the company vision and platform, angel investor and author, Kelley Skoloda, interviews Govenda’s co-founder and CEO Marion Lewis. With so much talk about women on boards, Govenda’s two, powerhouse, female founders are building boards from the ground up.
BoardBookit, a leader in board portal software, just announced it has rebranded to Govenda. The new name and brand reflect the company’s expanding vision and growing suite of corporate governance products. The product evolution, from a board portal to a board relationship and compliance management platform, is the driving force behind the rebranding. The company’s new name, logo, and suite of products address the rapidly changing needs of the corporate governance market.
KS: The topics of boards of directors and corporate governance are in the news more than ever. Tell us more about your company’s rebranding and expanding.
ML: We are evolving from board portal software to board relationship and compliance management solutions. Good governance has never been more important and the time is right to elevate our brand positioning and update the company name to reflect our game-changing focus on optimizing board performance. Our new identity demonstrates our commitment to and growing ambitions in the market. Govenda’s expanded platform will enable boards of all sizes and scopes to lead companies through business and societal changes, including environmental and social (ESG) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) imperatives. New data collection and report generation capabilities enable enhanced levels of communication and organizational compliance, in particular with respect to ESG and DE&I.
KS: Ranked 1,311 on the 2020 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies, the former BoardBookit has emerged as a market leader for board portal software. Tell us more about the company and its founders.
ML: Founded by two women entrepreneurs, myself, Marion Lewis, CEO, and Jeanette Thomas, CTO, the company has experienced 340% growth over the past three years, with a robust and growing base of customers in healthcare/pharma, financial services, manufacturing, and higher education.
KS: There is meaningful, new product news, in conjunction with this rebranding announcement. Can you tell us more about your three, timely solutions?
ML: Govenda enables data collection and a report-generating platform for corporate governance offices on environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics and can be integrated with the existing board portal or used as a stand-alone solution. Expanded board relationship management features to ensure transparent, ongoing, and seamless communication between executives and the board directors. Repackaged board management offerings to better meet the needs of all customer segments.
KS: Funding is key to expansion and Govenda’s growth has been fueled by a recent investment. Tell us about it.
ML: The company’s tremendous success led to a meaningful minority investment from Growth Street Partners in late 2020. Growth Street Partners focuses on SaaS businesses and we were thrilled to have them invest invest to support the company in its next phase of growth. They are a great partner.