Blackbird promotes product chief Sumit Rai to chief executive

Blackbird, the AIM-listed video editing software company, said on 9 November that Sumit Rai became chief executive on 6 November. He succeeds Ian McDonough, who held the post for nine years and remains an employee and director.

Rai has been chief product officer since 2022 and led the design and development of elevate.io, the company’s browser-based editor for marketing teams and creators. He joined the board as an executive director on 28 September and now takes responsibility for all of the company’s operations and businesses.

Video editor elevate.io gains its thousandth paying user

McDonough said elevate.io had passed its first 1,000 paying users. Blackbird counted 914 subscribers on 24 September. On 8 October it announced that the editor would join Google’s Chromebook perks program, which gives Chromebook owners a 50% discount on monthly plans for six months.

Hazanov became interim chair on 2 November

Youri Hazanov, a non-executive director, took over as interim chair from McDonough, who had held that role alongside his own since June 2025. The company said its search for a permanent independent chair continues. Steve White, chief operating and financial officer, left on 31 August, and Adrian Wilding was named interim chief financial officer, a non-board role, on 7 September.

Blackbird reported revenue of £0.53m for the six months to 30 June, down 8% on a year earlier, and a net loss after tax of £1.5m. It held £1.9m in cash and short-term investments and had no debt.