At the end of 2020, Sequoia Capital — the US VC firm behind Google, Airbnb, DoorDash, WhatsApp and Instagram — quietly launched its famous scout programme in Europe.
The programme, which has been running for over a decade in the US, is an individual investor network in which “scouts” — mostly founders and executives at high-profile companies — are given capital by the VC to invest in early-stage companies. It has led Sequoia to some portfolio champions too; most notably, Stripe.
The European scout programme started with a few dozen members across several countries. Three years later, this number hasn't changed significantly, according to one source with direct knowledge of the programme (Sequoia won’t share exact numbers).
The number of scouts at any given time fluctuates because Sequoia’s programme runs in cohorts that typically last between one and two years, with some scouts staying on for longer.
Participants get $100k to spend per year, which is taken from a dedicated sub-fund within Sequoia’s wider global fund. The total amount of money put aside for scout investments in the US and Europe runs in the double digits. Sequoia declined to confirm the exact size of the fund.
Who are Sequoia’s scouts?
Sequoia onboards mostly entrepreneurs and operators. When the scout programme launched in Europe, participants included Cristina Berta Jones of Amsterdam-based online food business Picnic, and Marc McCabe, a Dublin-based angel investor and former director of operations at Airbnb.
“Many entrepreneurs already help other founders every day by sharing ideas, advice, networking and resources,” says a Sequoia spokesperson. “We launched scouts to give them the means to provide capital support in an efficient way.”
So, who are the scouts currently looking for investment opportunities across Europe?
Sifted has put together a non-exhaustive list of Sequoia scouts who are currently active, based on their LinkedIn activity (not all scouts list their involvement online). We contacted all of the listed scouts for confirmation; we’ve noted below those who confirmed that they are still actively scouting for Sequoia.
Sequoia did not provide or confirm these names. If you are an active Sequoia scout and would like to be included, please get in touch.
UK
David de Picciotto [confirmed], a former Revolut employee and the cofounder of Pledge, a startup that provides carbon emission tracking software for freight companies.
Scouting start date: 2020
Edward Bishop, cofounder of Sequoia-backed Tessian, an AI-powered tool for email security.
Scouting start date: 2020
Tim Sadler, who cofounded Tessian with Bishop.
Scouting start date: 2020
Grace Cassy, a former UK diplomat-turned-founder who launched CyLon, an early-stage VC specialising in cyber and security startups.
Scouting start date: 2021
Ross Sheil, previously at Twitter and Stripe, and now GM for EMEA and APAC at Cloverly — a startup that builds digital infrastructure to buy and supply carbon credits.
Scouting start date: 2021
Rachael Palmer, former head of VC and startup partnerships for Google in Europe. Now working as a non-executive director at investment trust Baillie Gifford.
Scouting start date: 2021
Cyril Chemla [confirmed], cofounder of payment provider ProcessOut, which was acquired by fintech Checkout.com in 2020.
Scouting start date: 2022
Maya Ghosn Bichara, an angel investor and principal at mental health-focused VC Bridge Builders Collaborative.
Scouting start date: 2022
Jon Steinback, a former Google and Facebook employee, who is now the head of marketing at DeepMind.
Scouting start date: 2023
Alberto Rizzoli, cofounder of V7, an AI startup that provides tools for developers to make the most of training data.
Scouting start date: 2023
Ireland
Marc McCabe, an angel investor and former director of operations at Airbnb. Now general partner at (and founder of) VC firm Nomad Capital.
Scouting start date: 2014
Kieran Flanagan, CMO of workflow automation company Zapier.
Scouting start date: 2021
Sean Mullaney, now the CTO of search platform Algolia after years at Stripe and Google.
Scouting start date: 2022
Nordics
Marcus Krylborn [confirmed], ex-Googler, now leading Snap’s advertising business in Sweden and Denmark.
Scouting start date: 2021
Nick Dahl [confirmed], a former Spotify senior employee who recently joined Neko Health, the healthtech founded by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, as senior product manager.
Scouting start date: 2022
Alen Cvisic [confirmed], cofounder of Tola, a startup that provides tools for SMEs to pay bills and get paid.
Scouting start date: 2022
Emma Hernmarck [confirmed], marketplace lead at Swedish construction tech startup Alrik.
Scouting start date: 2023
Germany
Thilo Konzok, cofounder and former CEO of property management startup Buena.
Scouting start date: 2022
Bruno Grandi, head of international expansion at food-delivery scaleup Wolt.
Scouting start date: 2022
Alexander Weber [confirmed], the former chief growth officer at German neobank N26, who recently stepped down and is now on a sabbatical.
Scouting start date: 2022
Eva Spannagl [confirmed], cofounder of Climatos, which builds mini solar panels for urban spaces.
Scouting start date: 2023
CEE
Enrique Sarap, a Tallinn-based investor and founder who worked at Estonian VC Tera Ventures and Swedish fintech Atlar. Sarap is now a venture partner at UK VC Kindred Capital.
Scouting start date: 2023
France
Maxime Brousse [confirmed], cofounder of second-hand furniture marketplace Selency.
Scouting start date: 2021
Alexandre Berriche [confirmed], angel investor and cofounder of Fleet, which lets SMEs rent computer equipment and office furniture.
Scouting start date: 2021
Roxanne Varza [confirmed], the director of Paris-based startup campus Station F.
Scouting start date: 2020
Guillaume Cabane [confirmed], a startup advisor and growth expert who is based in San Francisco but makes European investments.
Scouting start date: 2019
