NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - Cloud communications

company Twilio ( TWLO ) has appointed a partner at Sachem Head Capital

Management to its board, it said on Monday, as it faces pressure

from several activist investment firms to make significant

changes.

Twilio ( TWLO ) added Andy Stafman and expanded the size of the board

by one person to 10 people.

The change removes the chance of a boardroom challenge from

Sachem Head in 2024 when three Twilio ( TWLO ) directors, including Chief

Executive Khozema Shipchandler and board Chairman Jeff Epstein,

are scheduled to stand for election.

Sachem Head, which has been invested on and off in Twilio ( TWLO )

over the last years, built its current position in the last

weeks, people familiar with the matter said. The exact size of

Sachem Head's stake in Twilio ( TWLO ) could not be determined.

Twilio ( TWLO ), which was founded in 2008 and became a publicly

traded company in 2015, makes products that help developers

build communication features for receiving phone calls and text

messages. It has a market value of $11 billion.

The company has come under pressure from activist investors

including Legion Partners and Anson Funds. Both have been

pushing the company to explore strategic alternatives, including

divesting the data and applications business or selling the

whole company.

Twilio's ( TWLO ) stock price has fallen 14% since January compared

with the technology-heavy Nasdaq Index's 11% gain during

the same time. The stock closed at $61.15 on Friday and has lost

roughly 85% from its peak in early 2021 as millions of people

worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company made changes earlier this year when it promoted

Shipchandler, who most recently was President of Twilio

Communications and previously held positions as the company's

chief operating officer and chief financial officer, to replace

Jeff Lawson. Lawson co-founded the company and was its chief

executive.

The company also cut costs last year, added an independent

director with software experience and in March committed to

expand its stock buyback program by an additional $2 billion

through 2024. It authorized a $1 billion stock buyback program

last year.

Sachem Head, which oversees $3.4 billion in assets, has made

previous software investments. It nominated three directors to

the board of Anaplan, which was sold to Thoma Bravo to avoid a

board fight. It settled for three board seats, including one for

its portfolio manager Scott Ferguson, at design software maker

Autodesk ( ADSK ).