Tech startup leaders, including Eileen Burbidge, partner at Passion Capital, Jenny Griffiths, founder of Snap Fashion, and Andy McLoughlin, founder of Huddle, have all made this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Burbidge has been given an MBE, awarded for a “major local role in any activity”, for her services to business in London.
Griffiths was given the same honour for her “services to digital innovation in the fashion industry” in the Capital.
McLoughlin, along with Xochi and Michael Birch, who sold Bebo to AOL for $850m in 2008 and now run private members club The Battery in San Francisco, all made the overseas OBE list.
Founder of JustGiving.com Zarine Khara has been made a dame, the highest honour on the list for her “major contribution” to the UK, making her one of only eight women to be given the title this year.
Facebook’s VP EMEA Nicola Mendelsohn, also co-chair of the Creative Industries Council, has been given a CBE, the second-highest honour, for her “services to creative industries”.
Gender equality?
For the second time ever, women outnumbered men across the range of honours, representing 51% of people on the list. But the number of men receiving a knighthood totalled 29, compared to the eight women who were made dames.
Digital campaigner Laura Bates was awarded a British Empire Medal, reintroduced in 2012 to recognise shorter, high-impact work, for her #EveryDaySexism gender equality project.
Honours have been rejected over the years by the likes of novelists Roald Dahl and J G Ballard, while John Lennon gave his MBE back in 1969.
For a full list of what the honours mean, head here.