Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 14, 2025

Prestigious Silicon Valley VC firm looks to Europe for start-up success stories

Prestigious Silicon Valley VC firm looks to Europe for start-up success stories

Sequoia Capital, one of the best-known venture capital firms on Menlo Park's Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley, has made a major new bet on Europe.

Sequoia Capital, one of the best-known venture capital firms on Menlo Park’s Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley, has made a major new bet on what it thinks is the next hottest thing: Europe.

Founded 48 years ago by Don Valentine, the prestigious firm that backed Apple and Google early on, is poised to sign a lease on a new office in London in the next couple of weeks to house a small but growing team of European investors.

“Being physically on the ground … enables us to move more quickly … and to dramatically level up the effort,” veteran Sequoia partner Matt Miller told CNBC on a video call on Monday. “I was coming (to London) one week a month but you can only see and do so much. We felt that being on the ground would make a material difference in our ability to find opportunities earlier.”

There are now several European tech firms worth in excess of $10 billion and Miller believes people are starting to ask when a $100 billion start-up in Europe will emerge.

Sequoia’s U.S. team has already invested hundreds of millions into European start-ups including AI chipmaker Graphcore, fintech firm Klarna, flight finder Skyscanner, online makeup retailer Charlotte Tilbury, life science firm Cambridge Epigenetix and security firm Tessian.

But it’s concerned that some of the most promising start-ups in cities like London, Paris, Berlin and Stockholm may be slipping through the net — Sequoia missed start-ups like AI lab DeepMind, which sold to Google in 2014 for $600 million, and chip designer Arm, which is in the process of being sold to Nvidia for $40 billion.

Miller was reluctant to say exactly where the new London office will be in case it falls through. He did, however, confirm that it won’t be in Mayfair — the swanky London neighborhood where several other VC firms including Index Ventures and Accel are set up — as that’s not the “vibe” the firm is looking for. “I don’t want to share anything specific but it’s in a great neighborhood that we feel will be a great destination for founders to come and spend time with us,” he said.

After years of rumors, Sequoia’s official arrival in Europe is viewed in some corners as a big deal for the continent’s tech scene. Alex Kayyal, a Salesforce Ventures International partner who is based in London, told CNBC that Sequoia is “one of the most respected venture firms globally.” The fact that the firm has formally set up in Europe “can only be validation for entrepreneurs here,” he said.

Sequoia has not said how much it plans to invest in Europe and, unlike many other firms, it doesn’t disclose how many billions it has under management.

So far, Sequoia’s team in London comprises just four people: Miller, former Accel partner Luciana Lixandru, former EQT Ventures partner Zoe Hewitt and George Robson, who used to be a product lead at fast-growing fintech firm Revolut.

There’s no plans to stop there though. “We’re looking right now to hire a younger person who is four or five years out of school to help us on our investment efforts,” said Miller.

Asked if that person is likely to come from an investment bank (where many venture capitalists start their careers) or another VC firm, Miller said it will be “somebody who’s probably worked in some form of investing job,” but he declined to be more specific.


Sequoia investors (L-R): Matt Miller, Luciana Lixandru, Doug Leone, and George Robson.


The Menlo Park team will be “intimately involved” in all the European investments, according to Miller.

“We were previously covering this from California and we’ve now added some incremental people so it doesn’t feel like it’s a team of four going to five, it feels like it’s a team of 24 going to 25,” he said.

Sequoia is also in the early stages of setting up a scout network of angel investors in Europe that it will use to find and invest in new companies. The company, which has a similar network in the U.S., doesn’t disclose how many scouts it has.
Lessons from Google Ventures

Sequoia isn’t the first high profile U.S. VC firm to expand into Europe in recent years. Google Ventures (now GV) launched a dedicated Europe operation in 2015 with five partners based out of London. Things didn’t go to plan though, and the European fund was ditched after the California headquarters reportedly turned down “a lot” of the London partners’ investment ideas.

Miller said Sequoia talked to “a lot of people” at GV before setting up in London. Ultimately, Sequoia has decided to start off small and expand over time. Miller said “moving gradually to expand instead of quickly rolling in with five new partners,” which is what GV did, will give Sequoia a chance to integrate the new team members and “have that better relationship across the two teams.”

Sequoia’s European operation is much more closely linked with the main U.S. operation than Sequoia India and Sequoia China. “The difference is that Europe will not be its own distinctive breakout, separate set of funds,” Miller said. “It will be part of the U.S. fund.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
×