Sequoia has hired a fifth partner to be based in Europe, in a further sign that the US VC giant means business on the continent. 

Cornelius Menke is joining Sequoia from consultancy giant Boston Consulting Group. He also previously worked in the office of the CFO at Klarna — Sequoia’s largest European portfolio investment — while studying at the Stockholm School of Economics. 

Luciana Lixandru — the fund’s first European hire and formerly a partner at Accel —  said “Our commitment to Europe has never been stronger,” in a tweet welcoming Menke to the local team. 

Menke will be based in Sequoia’s London office, and will help build the fund’s European portfolio by investing across sectors, Sifted has heard. 

The Sequoia Europe team

Menke is Sequoia’s fourth new partner hire in Europe since it began building a London team in 2020. 

Other partners — the title given to every member of the investment team at Sequoia, not just the most ‘senior’ members — are: 

• George Robson, a former product lead at Revolut
• Anas Biad, who joined last May from rival VC fund Silver Lake.
• Matt Miller — a Sequoia veteran who’s been with the fund for 10 years and relocated to Europe to lead its expansion on the ground. 

In a LinkedIn post today announcing his job move, Menke wrote: “With the first touchpoint dating back to my time at Klarna in 2017/18 as one of Sequoia’s early European investments, I am very much looking forward to partnering with similar daring entrepreneurs all across Europe from idea to IPO and beyond!”

The US VC’s footprint in Europe

In March, Sequoia launched an accelerator programme for seed-stage companies in Europe, as a means to keep tabs on the best local deals. So far 17 European companies have participated, including lawtech Fides, sales software startup Twain and insurtech SureIn.

Across the pond, Sequoia has a star-studded portfolio, including Stripe, YouTube, Airbnb and WhatsApp. 

In Europe, its most recently announced deal is a follow-on investment in employee equity management platform Ledgy’s Series B.  

Amy O’Brien is a reporter at Sifted. She tweets from @Amy_EOBrien and writes our fintech newsletter — you can sign up here.