Chowdhury joins Cambridge Enterprise

Ajay Chowdhury has been appointed non-executive chairman of the board at Cambridge Enterprise, the tech transfer office for University of Cambridge.
Chowdhury started the position in January 2020, however the news was only made official yesterday. He succeeds outgoing chairman Sir Keith O’Nions, after the latter’s five-year tenure.
Chowdhury has been with the London branch of BCG Digital Ventures, the corporate venturing and incubation arm of consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, since 2015 as a partner and managing director.
He also remains a non-executive director at smart sensor maker MachineMax and international payments platform FairFx.
Chowdhury was named one of the 100 most influential UK-based Asians in a 2005 ranking part-produced by trade body Institute of Asian Professionals.
His fields of expertise include mobile applications, e-commerce, digital media, data analytics, digital retail and government.
Chowdhury has about 25 years of experience in guiding emerging business. His record includes CEO appointments at online ticket marketplace Seatwave from 2013 until 2014 and at digital retail advertising business ComQi from 2007 until 2013.
Chowdhury was a founding general partner at venture capital fund IDG Ventures Europe, then sponsored by IT media firm International Data Group, from 2000 until 2007.
During his time at IDG, Chowdhury led investments into computer game development studio Lionhead and music recognition tool Shazam, later acquired by computing technology suppliers Microsoft and Apple respectively.
Andy Neely, pro-vice-chancellor for enterprise and business relations at Cambridge Enterprise, said: “Cambridge Enterprise has played a critical role in the development of the Cambridge cluster, supporting a wide array of university spinouts and startups.
“As digitalisation continues at pace, Ajay’s background and experience will be invaluable to Cambridge Enterprise and the wider university.”
– Image courtesy of BCG Digital Ventures