Creandum-backed startup Boardy slammed for sexist AI e-mail – ‘disgusted’

Milly Barker, a London-based Fractional COO kicked off her work week with an email from Boardy, a new AI-powered networking startup designed to link users to relevant connections through its AI voice assistant.

But the message’s content immediately shocked her. Boardy said it had found Barker an interesting connection who was currently unavailable. However this connection had, as Barker wrote in capital letters on LinkedIn on Monday, made the time to pass on “UNSOLICITED THOUGHTS ON MY APPEARANCE IN THE STYLE OF DONALD TRUMP”.

The email from Boardy stated that Barker’s potential new connection had commented on the red lipstick she was wearing in a professional photo, adding that her “mouth commands attention” and that her "eyes sparkle". It also made remarks about her clothes and jewellery, adding that she was "absolutely crushing it" with her look.

Barker was so riled by the email she posted: “What in the unfathomable hellscape of technology is this?!”

Alongside the overtly sexist tone of the email, Barker suggested she took issue with the content, since she is a huge opponent of the new US president, and the email mirrored his language: “I’ve spent the months since the US election actively avoiding any news articles about Trump because I'm so horrified at the idea that so many people would vote for the objectification of women.”

“SURELY there isn't a single person at this company or at Creandum who just invested in them who think it's appropriate to do this?!”, added Barker, describing herself as "disgusted" by her interaction with Boardy.

Creandum is a Stockholm-born global venture capital firm known for early investments in companies like Spotify and Klarna. Boardy secured an $8 million seed funding round led by Creandum earlier this month.

The VC firm also has hubs in Berlin, London, and San Francisco, and has made several major investments in the impact sector. These include Oslo-based Enode which works to connect and optimise energy devices for consumers and utilities, Danish EV charging software firm Monta, Twaice – a battery analytics firm based in Munich – and Stockeld Dreamery, a Swedish startup developing plant-based dairy alternatives.

Barker’s post about Boardy quickly went viral on LinkedIn, with tech and impact workers from around the world chiming in on the controversial email’s content.

Marie Alice Duff, a COO and Strategy & Ops Partner for French impact startups and non-profits wrote “I immediately cringed”.

In the US, market experimentation strategist and CEO Heather Myers posted: “Huh. Clearly AI has a hard time reading the room.”

Another commenter, Elaine Richardson – a Business Analyst Consultant in Leeds, northern England – wrote: “FUN?? This is just FOUL. I hope you have unsubscribed and blocked.”

Boardy’s founder, Miami-based Andre D'Souza took to LinkedIn a few hours later to apologise for the email, which was part of a wider campaign to promote the new tool.

“I messed up this morning,” he wrote. “I wanted to build on all the Boardy momentum from last week and totally missed the mark for a bunch of different reasons – most critically, we used AI to comment on people’s appearance, which has no place in a professional setting, and isn’t really aligned with what we’re trying to do with Boardy. I should have known better.”

He said that the email campaign had been his call and apologised to anyone hurt by his decision. The founder said he also hoped that people would give Boardy “a second chance”, and allow the humans behind it the opportunity to learn and improve from their feedback.

Impact has reached out to Creandum for comment.