Index appoints Skype VP

UK headquartered VC Index Ventures has hired serial entrepreneur Saul Klein as a venture partner.

Klein, who will be based in Index’s London office, joins from Skype, the company acquired by eBay in 2005 to become European venture capital’s number one success story, where he was global vice president of marketing and e-commerce. Prior to Skype, Klein co-founded and served as CEO for Video Island, an Index- funded venture that recently merged with LoveFilm to become Europe’s leading online DVD rental and movie download service. 

He also held management positions at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond within the Web Platform Services Group; served as the SVP for Firefly Network (acquired by Microsoft), and was director of digital communication at WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. Klein currently serves on the board of directors of bridges.org, an international non-profit which works to promote the effective use of information and communications technology in developing countries and he was a founding member of TrustE. He is a founding patron of Imperial Entrepreneurs, which is helping potential student entrepreneurs at Imperial College reach out to London’s established start-up and venture community to kick start opportunities. He was recently named as the winner of the marketing and communications category of the 2006 World Technology Awards in San Francisco.