# Sherry Coutu

> Sherry Coutu CBE is a Canadian entrepreneur, angel investor and non-executive director based in Cambridge, England. The founder and former chief executive and chair of interactive investor, she later founded Founders4Schools and Digital Boost, authored the 2014 Scale-Up Report and co-founded the ScaleUp Institute. Her current board roles include Pearson, Raspberry Pi Holdings and Standard Life.

- **Role:** Founder at Digital Boost; Non-Executive Director at Pearson and Standard Life; Senior Independent Non-Executive Director at Raspberry Pi Holdings
- **Organizations:** interactive investor, Founders4Schools, Digital Boost, ScaleUp Institute, Pearson, Raspberry Pi Holdings, Standard Life, Silicon Valley Comes to the UK, Cambridge Angels
- **From:** New Westminster, Canada
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** BA (Honours), Political Science, University of British Columbia, MSc Economics, with distinction, London School of Economics and Political Science, MBA, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Founded interactive investor and served as its chief executive and chair., Appointed CBE in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to entrepreneurship., Authored the 2014 Scale-Up Report and co-founded the ScaleUp Institute.

## Career timeline

- **1986** — Graduated from the University of British Columbia.
- **1991-1993** — Studied for an MBA at Harvard Business School.
- **1995** — Launched interactive investor, later serving as chief executive and chair.
- **2000** — Interactive Investor International floated on the stock market.
- **2001** — Interactive investor was acquired by AMP.
- **2013** — Appointed CBE for services to entrepreneurship.
- **2014** — Authored the Scale-Up Report on UK Economic Growth.
- **2015** — Co-founded the ScaleUp Institute with Reid Hoffman; Founders4Schools became a registered charity.
- **2019** — Joined Pearson’s board on 1 May.
- **2024** — Appointed to Raspberry Pi Holdings’ board on 2 June as a non-executive director and senior independent director.
- **2025** — Joined the board of the company now named Standard Life plc on 1 May.

## Achievements

- Founded interactive investor and served as its chief executive and chair.
- Appointed CBE in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to entrepreneurship.
- Authored the 2014 Scale-Up Report and co-founded the ScaleUp Institute.
- Founded Founders4Schools and Digital Boost.
- Invested in 70 technology start-ups and five venture capital firms, according to Pearson’s current biography.
- Named Computer Weekly’s Most Influential Woman in UK IT in 2017.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Discussed her career, mentoring, board experience and use of AI in Boardwave’s Leaders’ Lives interview, published 27 July 2026.
- **2025-05** — Appointed to the board of the company now named Standard Life plc.
- **2024-11** — Cambridge ideaSpace published her ten recommendations on scaling businesses, based on her Cambridge Tech Week talk.
- **2024-06** — Joined Raspberry Pi Holdings’ board as senior independent non-executive director.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coutu/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/scoutu

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sherry-coutu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23