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LONDON — Silicon Valley enterprise capital agency Sequoia goes in opposition to the grain with its new London workplace.
The tech investor, which has profited off the again of early bets in corporations like Google and Apple, has shunned London’s unique Mayfair neighborhood and determined to arrange store in close by Marylebone — a trendy nook of west London with Georgian streets and “elegant vibes,” in accordance with TimeOut. It is also the house of fictional non-public detective Sherlock Holmes.
“Sequoia has signed a lease on a London workplace within the Fitzrovia/Marylebone space and it’s presently engaged on the design/match out,” stated a spokesperson for the agency. “As soon as that’s accomplished, and naturally lockdown allowing, they’re very excited to maneuver in.”
It presently has a variety of desks in a shared workplace house in Fitzrovia however the brand new workplace can be its personal devoted house.
“We’re very excited to have signed a 10-year lease for our new London workplace, reflecting Sequoia’s deep dedication to increasing our presence in Europe and partnering with the brightest and finest founders throughout the continent,” stated Sequoia companion Luciana Lixandru.
Lots of the metropolis’s largest tech traders are primarily based in Mayfair together with SoftBank, Index Ventures, Accel and Atomico.
Sequoia companion Matt Miller was fast to dismiss the glitzy neighborhood, nonetheless, when CNBC requested him the place the agency was planning to open its new London workplace in November. “It is undoubtedly not Mayfair,” Miller stated. “The reason is our objective is to attach with founders.”
The VC agency began out within the Seventies in an “superb spot” subsequent to Stanford College on Sand Hill Street in California, Miller stated. “In a way it is change into type of a stodgy, profitable place, however it’s nonetheless fantastic to be that near Stanford.”
When Sequoia opened an area in San Francisco, it went to the Mission district the place there’s been a “ton of start-ups,” in accordance with Miller. He stated Sequoia wished to choose someplace in London the place founders would really feel comfy to go to and spend time.
“We have stated no to Mayfair from the start,” he stated. “It is a fantastic a part of the city, no query, however it’s simply not the vibe that we’re on the lookout for with our corporations.”
Miller stated entry to the town’s airports and the situation of its workers’s properties had been different points taken under consideration.
The world round Excessive Avenue Kensington in West London is one other hotbed for VC companies with First Minute Capital situated there, whereas King’s Cross is house to Balderton Capital and LocalGlobe.
Betting on Europe
Sequoia’s U.S. group has already invested a whole lot of tens of millions into European start-ups together with AI chipmaker Graphcore, fintech agency Klarna, flight finder Skyscanner, on-line make-up retailer Charlotte Tilbury, life science agency Cambridge Epigenetix and safety agency Tessian.
However it’s involved that a number of the most promising start-ups in cities like London, Paris, Berlin and Stockholm could also be slipping by means of the online — Sequoia missed start-ups like AI lab DeepMind, which offered to Google in 2014 for $600 million, and chip designer Arm, which is within the means of being offered to Nvidia for $40 billion.
Alex Kayyal, a Salesforce Ventures Worldwide companion who relies in London, informed CNBC that Sequoia is “some of the revered enterprise companies globally.” The truth that the agency has formally arrange in Europe “can solely be validation for entrepreneurs right here,” he stated.
