“We need to be in San Francisco to win in Europe,” says Spotify and Lovable backer

The founder of the Sweden-founded VC firm which has backed high-profile European tech companies, including Spotify, Lovable and Black Forest Labs, says the VC needs to be in San Francisco to win in Europe. Creandum founder Staffan Helgesson made the comments as US VC firm Sequoia said it was shutting its London office.

Last week, Creandum said it had closed its largest ever fund, a $750m fund, as well as opening its first office in San Francisco. The new $750m fund, Fund VIII, is up in size from Creandum’s previous fund, Fund VII, which was a €500m ($560m) fund.

The VC, which has also backed Klarna and UK chip startup Olix, has had a presence in San Francisco since 2012, and has now opened its first office in the city. Speaking on the Tech.eu podcast, Helgesson said: “We need to be in San Francisco to win in Europe. It’s because we can be helpful to our portfolio. 

“We are more attractive to founders. We’re a better investor in Europe because we see what is happening here. We can do due diligence on both sides of the pond. And sometimes when founders fundraise, we can have touchpoints with them on both sides of the Atlantic.” 

Helgesson said Creandum’s distributed set up, with offices in Stockholm, Berlin, London and San Francisco, did present some challenges.

But he said: “I don’t think it’s the model that is most important; it is how you execute on the model. And we have learnt how to execute a multi-hub strategy."

Helgesson also talked about the new fund, including the relative ease in raising money for the fund, and how cheques are likely to be dispensed. Additionally, he talked about Creandum's investment thesis. He said: “We will never lower the bar on entrepreneur quality simply to invest in an area that we think is exciting.”

Creandum says that one in six of its early-stage investments is valued at $1bn or more. Asked whether Creandum could maintain this level with the new fund, Helgesson said venture was a “very hard” industry.

He said: “I think as a venture franchise you are just a bad fund away from not being relevant anymore. And you have to remain super focused and paranoid not to miss that.”