Manchester technology company DigitalBridge has appointed Steve Furber CBE and Vikas Shah MBE as advisors ahead of a period of significant growth, including international expansion and product innovation.
The firm aims to help retailers more easily allow customers to design and buy a new bathroom or kitchen.
The appointments come on the back of a £3m funding round with Maven Capital Partners.
The business has also been selected for Tech Nation’s Applied AI programme.
Steve Furber CBE is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the British Computer Society, the Institution of Engineering and Technology andis currently Professor of Computer Engineering at the University of Manchester.
His main research interests include Neural Networks, and he was a principal designer of the BBC Microcomputer (1982) and the ARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor. The ARM processor core is now used in thousands of different products, from mobile phones and tablets to digital televisions and video games.
Vikas Shah MBE is one of the UK’s highest profile entrepreneurs & philanthropists, and was awarded an MBE for Services to Business and the Economy in Her Majesty the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours List.
He is Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan (The Lisbon MBA), Honorary Professor of Business at The Alliance Business School, University of Manchester, an Honorary Industry Fellow at the University of Salford Business School and is currently CEO of Swiscot Group (a diversified international trading business).
On the appointment, Furber commented: “It’s brilliant to see a Mancunian business, so heavily focussed on computer science, emerging onto the world stage and using cutting edge technology to solve a real-world commercial issue. I look forward to being part of its growth in the years to come.”
About his appointment, Shah said: “We’ve seen DigitalBridge making waves over the last few months, from their recent capital raise announcement to being selected for Tech Nation’s Applied AI programme last month. I’m excited to support this capable business during their next stage of growth.”
David Levine, CEO of DigitalBridge the new appointments would ensure the firm has the best technical and commercial minds.
“It’s an incredibly exciting step on our journey to helping anyone design beautiful living spaces for themselves and their family, no matter how little design experience and skills they have,” he said.