Early Google and Apple backer Sequoia Capital is actively hiring to boost its investments in European startups
- Sequoia Capital, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm which invested early in Google and Apple, is looking to boost its activity in Europe.
- Sequoia has hired a search firm to help it find investment talent in Europe for the first time, as it increases its portfolio of European investments.
- Sources told Business Insider that Sequoia Capital partner Matt Miller spends at least one week out of every month in Europe, where he sees promise in the startup scene's momentum.
- US venture capital firms are increasingly looking beyond Silicon Valley for deals, as valuations spiral at home.
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Legendary Silicon Valley investment firm Sequoia Capital is actively looking to boost its footprint in Europe, seeking to hire investors on the ground for the first time.
Sequoia bet early and successfully on companies including Apple, Google, WhatsApp, and YouTube, among others.
Sequoia has stepped up its European activity over the past few years, investing in German travel startup Tourlane and leading a $42 million round in UK email security startup Tessian in 2019 alone. Its earlier European investments include British AI chip firm Graphcore, and UK analytics startup PatSnap.
Sequoia Capital partner Matt Miller spends a week out of every month in London, and sits on the boards for both Graphcore and Tessian.
One source told Business Insider that Miller's conviction that the European startup scene is gaining momentum and may produce more global successes prompted the firm to look more seriously at the continent.
Sources told Business Insider that Sequoia Capital is looking to hire investors to source startup deals from Europe for the first time, to support Miller.
There is some gossip among industry investors that Sequoia Capital plans to open its first-ever European office in London, but one source familiar with the matter told Business Insider this is not the case.
Sequoia's increased focus on Europe is vindication for the continent's startups, which have traditionally lagged their peers in the US and China in terms of scale and the amount of capital raised.
Conventionally, Europe has produced local stars and performed well in sectors such as enterprise, but failed to produce long-lasting platform companies to rival Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon. Several promising companies went on to be acquired by foreign rivals, such as chip firm ARM, Google-owned DeepMind, and Apple-owned Shazam.
But the story is changing. According to TechNation research, US investors poured $5.3 billion into European tech companies in the first seven months of 2019 alone, up 40% year over year.
Sequoia's increased presence in Europe will make it tougher for local investors to win deals. One told Business Insider: "It's broadly a good thing because it confirms the view of the [European] market, but they'll win everything they go for."