# Eric Gillespie

> Eric Gillespie is a technology entrepreneur who repeatedly built businesses around public information. He founded The Patent Board in 2004, joined government-procurement intelligence company Onvia in 2007, and later founded Govini, whose early pitch turned scattered government spending records into market intelligence. A Harvard Business School graduate and former federal FOIA Advisory Committee member, he moved from Govini CEO to executive chairman in 2017. Govini removed him from the organization and its board in November 2025 following his arrest on four felony charges; public reporting at the time said no plea appeared in court records.

- **Role:** Former founder and executive chairman of Govini
- **Organizations:** Govini, Onvia, The Patent Board, The SBI Group, Scient, Sears Roebuck and Company, Computer Sciences Corporation, IBM
- **Education:** Graduate; degree not publicly specified, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Founded The Patent Board in 2004 and helped grow it to 45 employees in its first year., Created The Wall Street Journal's Patent Scoreboard, according to Govini's published executive biography., Founded Govini, an analytics and software company serving government and defense markets.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2004** — Held technology and leadership roles at IBM, Computer Sciences Corporation, Sears Roebuck and Company, and Scient/The SBI Group.
- **2004** — Founded The Patent Board, a patent-data and intellectual-property analytics company.
- **2007** — Joined Onvia as chief information officer after serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer of The Patent Board.
- **2009** — Testified before the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology about tracking Recovery Act spending and public data.
- **2011** — Founded Govini, according to the company's public profile.
- **2014** — Served on the federal Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee.
- **2017** — Moved from Govini CEO to executive chairman when Chris Taylor became chief executive.
- **2025** — Govini terminated Gillespie from the organization and its board after his arrest on four felony charges; contemporaneous reporting said court records did not yet show a plea.

## Achievements

- Founded The Patent Board in 2004 and helped grow it to 45 employees in its first year.
- Created The Wall Street Journal's Patent Scoreboard, according to Govini's published executive biography.
- Founded Govini, an analytics and software company serving government and defense markets.
- Testified before the U.S. Congress on government spending transparency and public-sector data.
- Served on the federal Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee during its 2014-2016 term.

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Govini removed Gillespie from the organization and its board after his arrest in Pennsylvania on four felony charges. Breaking Defense reported that court documents did not yet show a plea at publication time.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/air-govini

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/eric-gillespie
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27