Sequoia, the US VC firm which has backed Klarna and Stripe, has launched two early-stage funds and given a vote of confidence to European founders. The two new funds are a $750 million early-stage fund targeting Series A startups and a $200 million seed fund.
Sequoia has a long history of investing in high-profile tech firms at an early stage, such as its investments in Apple and YouTube. In a post about the funds on its website, the US VC firm said it would be targeting founders from “any background from around the globe”.
The post goes on to share emerging themes witnessed by Sequoia's early-stage investors. Luciana Lixandru, partner, said: “I am excited to meet founders who use Europe as their product and engineering hub, but who want to take over the world. Europe’s founder pool has never been stronger.
"A new wave of repeat entrepreneurs and alumni from breakout scaleups bring hard-won judgment, world-class product taste, and the muscle memory of going from zero to global.” Sequoia’s European investments include Swedish fintech Klarna, German fintech Trade Republic,and German drone startup Stark.
Sequoia partner Roelof Botha said: “I’m drawn to dynamo founders—polymaths with a voracious appetite for learning, who blend interdisciplinary insights.
"These people don’t follow the conventional path. They’re defiant. They want to chart their own course. With the tools that we have available now in AI, founders like this can address problems that they spot in ways that we could never have done before.”
Would you like to write the first comment?
Login to post comments