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Lakestar partner steps down after decade at the VC firm

Manu Gupta is leaving prominent European VC firm, Lakestar.

By Isabel Woodford

Manu Gupta, a founding partner at Lakestar, is leaving the European venture firm after nearly a decade.

The serial investor told Sifted he has decided to step down later this summer and would begin a sabbatical until his non-compete clause is up.

Gupta helped set up early-stage venture firm Lakestar, which was founded in 2013 and has backed companies such as digital bank Revolut, delivery startup Glovo and travel company GetYourGuide.

Lakestar has become one of the most influential players in the European venture capital scene, last year raising $735m for its two European investment funds.

This was one of the largest raises in European venture, which has seen a wave of fresh capital in recent years. That same year Atomico, the London-based tech investment firm, raised a $820m fund while Accel raised a $575m fund.

Lakestar has traditionally invested across early-stage companies in the fintech, proptech and travel tech space. Other notable investments include Omio, Harry’s, SoFi, Opendoor and Oscar to name a few.

Gupta, who is on the board of more than a dozen companies such as Omio and Helpling, will leave behind seven other (all male) partners, including founder and chief executive Klaus Hommels, who was an early-stage investor in the likes of Facebook and Spotify.

Sources close to Lakestar say they are beginning discussions about a fresh hire to replace Gupta.

Recent new bets by Lakestar include Soulmachine, a New Zealand-based designer of artificial intelligence-based ‘avatars’ for interacting with computers, and Eigen Technologies, a London-based startup that uses natural language processing to help banks and other businesses analyse documents in bulk.

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