Netcapital Inc. names Martin Kay as CEO

By Edlyn Cardoza

Netcapital Inc., a digital private capital markets ecosystem, announced the appointment of Company director Martin Kay as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 3, 2023. In addition, the Company also announced that Dr. Cecilia Lenk, CEO of the Company since 2017, will assume the position of CEO of Netcapital Advisors Inc., the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary.

The appointment is timely for the Company, as the current economic landscape has many investors reevaluating their portfolios and exploring alternative investment opportunities. Specifically, continued growth in demand among retail investors for exposure to startups and private capital markets more broadly has placed a premium on services provided by the Company and prompted a need for more mature scalability, operations, and connections across the startup advisor and investor communities.

“Martin’s counsel has been invaluable since he was appointed to the Company’s board of directors earlier this year, and we’re delighted to further benefit from his expertise as he becomes the Company’s new CEO,” said Dr. Cecilia Lenk, CEO of Netcapital Advisors Inc. “His leadership experience – ranging from director and partner roles at Accenture, IBM and Bain & Company, to front line exposure as a venture investor, CEO and CRO – makes him ideally suited for this role, and I look forward to continuing our close collaboration as I turn my focus to scaling the Netcapital Advisors growth platform.”

Martin Kay joined the Company’s board of directors in May 2022 after three decades as a successful leader, investor, advisor, and operator in early-stage digital ventures, including the original napster. Most recently, Kay was a Managing Director with Accenture Strategy, where he led growth engagements for corporate clients and private equity firms.

He is a co-founder of Accenture BLOOM, a digital strategy practice that invents, incubates and scales new growth opportunities in partnership with clients. He was also the global strategy lead for Accenture’s ‘Cloud First’ program, driving innovation, growth, and digital transformation with cloud technologies.

“The Company has reached an important stage in its growth journey, as each of its businesses are scaling operations to meet increasing demand,” said Martin Kay, CEO of Netcapital Inc. “We believe that there is a significant market opportunity right now for our integrated offerings to create value for investors and entrepreneurs alike, and I’m eager to lead continuing expansion and results-driven execution as we build the Company’s profile as a publicly-traded company and generate returns for stakeholders.”

Kay began his career at Bain & Company, where he filled roles of increasing responsibility to become a Partner and lead the global Telecom, Media, and Technology practice. Mr. Kay holds an MA in Physics from Oxford University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.