Until recently, Kilsby - known in City circles as Special K - was vice-chairman of virt-x, the pan-European stock exchange established by the merger of the SWX Swiss Stock Exchange and the Tradepoint Consortium in 2001. He has also held senior positions at PriceWaterhouse, Charterhouse Bank, Bankers Trust, the London Stock Exchange and Instinet.

At Engimatec, Kilsby is joining former Instinet alumni, Duncan Johnston-Watt and Michael Paull, who established the company in April last year. Last month Enigmatec clinched £1 million in seed funding from Amadeus Capital Partners through its Amadeus Mobile Seed Fund.

Enigmatec has yet to release a product and remains tight-lipped about its activities, but it is understood that the company is developing rules-based middleware using Java technology with the aim of making it easier for non-technical staff to adapt Web-based systems for business purposes. Part of this will entail the delivery of infrastructure for delivering enterprise applications over wireless networks. The company's recently-recruited chief scientist Steve Ross-Talbot and head of research Gary Brown are both former SpiritSoft men.

Commenting on the appointment of Kilsby, Michael Paull, CEO, Enigmatec says: "Richard was instrumental in helping us close our recent £1M seed funding round with Amadeus Capital Partners. He brings to Enigmatec a broad range of experience in corporate governance and this, coupled with his understanding of emerging technologies plus his extensive industry contacts, makes him the ideal choice as chairman."

Kilsby has spent his time since leaving virt-X engaging with early-stage companies with the potential to disrupt current market structures. Other firms in his portfolio include Oslo-based screen-trading venture AJK, Java development house Intamission and transportation outfit Cargo Solutions.