London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 21, 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

0:00
0:00
Close
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
×