Boardio

What Boardio does

Boardio, operated by Finnish private limited company Abonnet Oy and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is a two-sided curated marketplace that matches startups and scaleups with advisors and board members. The platform hosts 12,000-plus qualified advisors across 120 countries (per its homepage), filterable by geography, industry, language, and skills. Companies post a growth brief — typically around market entry, fundraising, go-to-market, board formation, or sector-specific expertise — and qualified advisors apply directly to the opportunity; companies then review full applicant profiles and select. The platform includes a 100% Growth Guarantee under which Boardio runs a replacement search at no additional cost if an engagement is not working out. A decade-long proprietary dataset (806 searches and 9,225 applications analyzed in the 2015-2026 European Startup Advisor Search Report) underpins marketplace liquidity and the company's content marketing.

The business operates on a transaction-based model with two core service tiers: Connect, a self-serve flow priced at €890 to unlock all applicant profiles (free for the first three), and Turnkey, a full-service managed search priced at €3,900 as a success fee payable only when the company begins working with a Boardio-sourced advisor. Distribution is layered across product-led growth (free-to-start model, LinkedIn OAuth authentication, live activity feed), SEO-optimized country and industry landing pages, an Ambassador Program paying 30% revenue share to accelerators/incubators/coaches, a Country Manager Program offering 50-70% revenue share for territory owners, and Portfolio Scan for VC/PE portfolio operators. The team is led by CEO Tuomo Virkkunen with Andrew Spratley as CTO, a headcount of 30+, and the company is founder/management-owned with no disclosed institutional funding.

Customer segments are diversified across AI/SaaS (43% of 2025 searches, up from 34% in 2024), Cleantech/Sustainability (16%, up from 7%), FinTech, HealthTech, and food/consumer, with foreign-market searches representing 85% of 2025 volume. Board roles attract 74% more applications than the platform average, signaling a structurally high-demand use case that supports premium positioning on Turnkey engagements.

Name

Boardio

Legal name

Abonnet Oy

Website

https://boardio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Boardio is a two-sided marketplace connecting startups and scaleups with a curated global network of 12,000-plus advisors and board members across 120 countries, monetizing via self-serve (€890) and managed (€3,900) search tiers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advisor Matching Marketplace

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Governance & Board Effectiveness Advisory (BPAHAFAC)

Keywords

• Advisor matching marketplace
• Board member search
• Startup advisory platform
• Growth advisory services
• Curated advisor matching

Headquarters

HQ city

Espoo

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Connect Service: Self-serve model where companies manage selection process independently. Free to post search and receive first three full applicant profiles. €890 one-time fee to unlock all applicant profiles. No ongoing subscription required.
2. Turnkey Service: Full-service managed search where Boardio handles the entire process end-to-end. €3,900 success fee — payable only when company begins working with an advisor Boardio finds. No upfront cost.
3. Ambassador Referrals: 30% of Boardio revenue from each successful referral. Partners (accelerators, incubators, coaches) introduce companies; Boardio handles closing and delivery.
4. Country Manager Partnerships: Revenue share model (50-70%) for territory owners who generate leads and eventually full business responsibility in defined geographies. Both Connect (€890) and Turnkey (€3,900) opportunities count toward revenue share.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Boardio operates a curated two-sided marketplace that connects startups and scaleups seeking advisors or board members with a global network of 12,000+ qualified professionals across 120 countries. Companies post briefs describing growth challenges and target markets; qualified advisors apply directly and companies select whom to engage. The platform offers two tiers: Connect (self-serve, free to post with first three profiles free, €890 to unlock all applicants) and Turnkey (full-service managed search with €3,900 success fee), both backed by a 100% Growth Guarantee.

Product overview

Boardio operates as a curated advisor and board member matching marketplace for startups and scaleups. The core platform offers two service tiers: Connect (self-service, €890 to unlock all applicants) and Turnkey (full-service managed, €3,900 success fee). Both include the 100% Growth Guarantee. Additional offerings include Portfolio Scan for portfolio operators managing multiple companies, and partner programs — the Ambassador Program (30% revenue share for referrals) and Country Manager Program (50–70% revenue share for territory ownership). The platform connects companies with 12k+ advisors across 120 countries, covering needs such as market entry, fundraising, board governance, and sector-specific expertise (SaaS, FinTech, HealthTech).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Connect A self-serve tier of the Boardio platform where companies post a brief describing their growth challenge and target market, review applicants, and manage the selection process themselves. Three full applicant profiles are delivered free of charge, and companies pay a €890 one-time fee to unlock all applicants. Backed by a 100% Growth Guarantee (free replacement search if engagement fails). Designed for startups and scaleups comfortable running their own advisor interviews.
• Turnkey A full-service managed tier of the Boardio platform in which Boardio runs the entire advisor search process end-to-end for the client company. Free to start; €3,900 success fee is payable only when the company begins working with an advisor Boardio finds. Backed by the 100% Growth Guarantee. Intended for companies that want white-glove service or lack internal resources to manage the search themselves.
• Portfolio Scan A Boardio offering tailored for investors and portfolio operators who need to identify advisors for multiple portfolio companies across various markets and sectors. Leverages the same 12,000+ advisor network as Connect and Turnkey but is scoped for portfolio-level rather than single-company engagement.

Quantifiable outcome

• 85% of 2025 searches targeted a foreign market
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment services provider handling all financial transactions on the platform. Boardio uses Stripe for processing payments for Connect (€890) and Turnkey (€3,900) services. Stripe privacy policy governs transaction data handling.
• LinkedIncoreTechnology or IntegrationOAuth authentication provider. Users sign up and log in via LinkedIn, enabling profile data import and verification. LinkedIn cookies (linkedin_oauth_*) used for session management.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Guidepoint: Global expert network serving consulting, investment and corporate clients with on-demand advisor access; functionally identical marketplace to GLG and AlphaSights.
• GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group): Operates a paid expert network connecting clients with industry advisors on a per-engagement basis; closest large-scale analogue to Boardio's curated advisor matching model.
• Maven: Curated cohort-based and 1:1 expert platform for business learning and advisory; overlaps with Boardio's matching and pay-for-expertise model.
• AlphaSights: Expert intelligence platform that matches professionals with vetted advisors for phone consultations and projects; directly competitive two-sided advisor marketplace.
• Catalant (now AXA XL Expert Marketplace): Marketplace connecting enterprises with independent consultants and experts; comparable two-sided model for advisory/consulting talent.
• Tapestry Networks: Builds and facilitates peer advisory networks and board effectiveness programs for executives and directors; directly comparable governance/board focus.
• Tandem (formerly Clarity.fm): Marketplace connecting professionals with experts for paid advisory calls; comparable transaction-based advisor matching model, though more freelancer-led.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Major executive search and leadership advisory firm with a dedicated Board & CEO Practice; overlaps on board placement but operates at enterprise scale.
• LinkedIn: The professional network Boardio integrates with via OAuth; while not a direct advisor marketplace, LinkedIn Services and connections are the implicit alternative for free-form advisor networking.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search firm with dedicated board and CEO practices; serves the same governance talent need but via retained search rather than marketplace.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/boardio
• Xx.com/Boardiocom
• Facebookfacebook.com/Boardio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Boardio