Poppy Gustafsson, Baroness Gustafsson
The Baroness Gustafsson | |
|---|---|
| File:Poppy Gustafsson at the Council of Nations and Regions meeting 2024.jpg Gustafsson in 2024 | |
| Minister of State for Investment | |
| Assumed office 10 October 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | The Lord Johnson of Lainston |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 15 November 2024 Life peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Poppy Clare Veronica Prentis 24 August 1982 Kettering, Northamptonshire, UK |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse |
Joel Gustafsson (m. 2008) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Sheffield (BSc) |
Poppy Clare Veronica Gustafsson, Baroness Gustafsson, OBE (née Prentis; born 24 August 1982), is a British businesswoman and Labour Party politician who has served as Minister of State for Investment since 2024.
Early life and education
Gustafsson was born Poppy Clare Veronica Prentis[1] on 24 August 1982 in Northamptonshire to John Prentis and Gilly née Johnson.[2] Her father ran an agricultural-sales business, and her mother was a journalist for Farmers Weekly.[3] Growing up in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, she attended Hinchingbrooke School,[3] before going up to read Mathematics at the University of Sheffield, where she graduated as Bachelor of Science (BSc) in 2003 before studying for an accountancy qualification at Deloitte, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 2006.[2][4]
Career
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In her early career, Gustafsson worked for the venture capital firm Amadeus Capital Partners. In 2009, she moved to Autonomy, working as a corporate controller until the company's acquisition by HP.[5][6] Gustafsson co-founded Darktrace in 2013 and initially held the position of chief financial officer. She subsequently took on the role of co-CEO in 2016 and became the sole CEO in 2020.[6][7] She led Darktrace's initial public offering in 2021, and left the company in 2024 prior to the completion of its sale to the private equity firm Thoma Bravo.[8] On 10 October 2024, Gustafsson was appointed to government as Minister of State for Investment by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.[9] She was created a life peeress as Baroness Gustafsson, of Chesterton in the City of Cambridge, on 15 November to allow her to sit in the House of Lords.[1]
Personal life
In 2008, Gustafsson married Roland Joel Gustafsson, a Swedish engineer; they have two daughters. She took her husband's surname after the birth of her eldest daughter.[2][3][10] She lives in Cambridge as of 2020[update].[3]
Honours
Appointed OBE in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to the cyber security industry,[11] Gustafsson was named Tech Businesswoman of the Year at the 2019 UK Tech Awards.[12] In 2022, she was awarded an honorary doctorate (Hon. DSc) by the University of Sheffield, her alma mater.[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "No. 64574". The London Gazette. 20 November 2024. p. 23590.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Gustafsson, Poppy". Who's Who. A & C Black. 2023. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U292826. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Evans, Peter (11 July 2020). "Poppy Gustafsson: Lockdown has fuelled a cyber crimewave". The Times. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ↑ Heathman, Amelia (13 August 2018). "Darktrace's CEO on life leading one of the UK's top AI start-ups". The Standard. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ↑ Sweney, Mark; Hern, Alex (17 April 2021). "Poppy Gustafsson: the Darktrace tycoon in new cybersecurity era". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Gross, Anna (19 August 2022). "Poppy Gustafsson, the cyber security chief with a human dilemma". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ↑ "New investment minister to spearhead bolstered Office for Investment". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ↑ Sweney, Mark; Milmo, Dan (6 September 2024). "Poppy Gustafsson to leave Darktrace after sale to US private equity firm". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ↑ Mason, Rowena (10 October 2024). "Ex-Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson appointed UK investment minister". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ↑ Johnson, Jamie (8 March 2019). "Darktrace's Poppy Gustafsson on how she built £1.26bn cyber security empire". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ↑ "No. 62666". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 2019. p. B12.
- ↑ "Darktrace CEO Named 'Businesswoman of the Year' at UK Tech Awards 2019". Summit Partners. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ↑ "Sheffield celebrates Honorary Graduates". University of Sheffield. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
External links
- 1982 births
- Living people
- 20th-century English people
- 20th-century English women
- 21st-century British politicians
- 21st-century British women politicians
- 21st-century English businesspeople
- 21st-century English businesswomen
- Alumni of the University of Sheffield
- British technology chief executives
- British women accountants
- British women chief executives
- Chief executives of computer security organizations
- Deloitte people
- English accountants
- English chief executives
- Labour Party (UK) life peers
- Life peers created by Charles III
- Life peeresses created by Charles III
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- People from Cambridgeshire