A for-profit social enterprise which aims to cultivate a new wave of British entrepreneurs has recruited HRH Princess Beatrice among a new crop of board members.
Sky News understands that OPUS, a paid-for membership community, will unveil the 34 year-old royal as a director in a public announcement on Friday.
Princess Beatrice previously acted as a patron of Opus but is understood to have joined its board this month.
Its six-figure seed funding round, which will also be part of Friday’s announcement, is said to have been heavily oversubscribed and includes well-known names from the political and business arenas.
Opus describes its network as an “opportunity community” and says it comprises “a highly vetted network of rising leaders from a diverse set of sectors and roles, either managing a budget, a team or both”.
Its new funding will provide the means to develop member services and expand its network of members, who it describes as “rising leaders”.
Princess Beatrice said she was “excited” to deepen her work with the company, adding: “Having been a part of Opus since its inception, it is clear that there is an incredibly impactful opportunity to generate scale with this platform.”
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The elder daughter of Prince Andrew has also worked at Afiniti, an American technology company whose founder became embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal in 2021.
David Cameron, the former prime minister, was an adviser to Afiniti but resigned during the row, which erupted while Princess Beatrice was on maternity leave.
Adam Marshall, the former British Chambers of Commerce director-general, and Miguel McKelvey, one of WeWork’s co-founders, are also joining the Opus board.
Kerry Fennell, Opus’s managing director, said: “Leadership can be lonely, but at Opus we believe that careers and leadership should be a team sport.”
