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For the last couple of days, the global VC town's main talk has been that some of Silicon Valley’s biggest hitters have expressed their support for Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential election. The flurry of new backers followed Trump’s announcement of his running mate: JD Vance, a senator, US Marine veteran and former VC investor who’s worked closely with Paypal founder Peter Thiel.
The list of techies backing the duo includes a16z’s Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Sequoia’s Doug Leone, Elon Musk, Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale and crypto billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
But, in Europe’s tech scene — which often shies away from party politics — not everyone is best pleased with their transatlantic colleagues lining up behind Trump.
The criticism is coming most loudly from central and eastern Europe (CEE) — a region that has been heavily involved in helping Ukrainians fight against Russia. Trump, some fear, will take a milder approach towards Russia and cut US financial aid to Ukraine.
“That's extremely f***** up news for Ukraine, Estonia and many European nations. Can anyone explain why Silicon Valley iconic investors are blatantly abandoning Europe for a few $?,” Ragnar Sass, Estonian angel investor and the cofounder of the unicorn Pipedrive who has been helping Ukrainians on the frontline for the last three years, wrote in a LinkedIn post.
“This election is not about taxes and policies. It’s about good and evil - democracy versus autocracy,” Sass told Sifted. “It’s about the most core values of the world. Any Silicon Valley investor helping Trump and Vance getting elected is supporting Russian genocide in Ukraine.”
Danijel Višević, a general partner at World Fund, a Berlin-based climate tech VC, says that, while he understands that VCs care about quick wins and quick returns, the basis of their business is “social freedom, a free market economy, a reliable justice system and democracy.”
“If Trump becomes president, he will attack these four pillars, which will also massively harm the VC business. That's why I think the decision by venture capitalists to support this notorious liar and hate-monger is not only opportunistic but unfortunately also stupid.”
But Silicon Valley VCs backing Trump argue that he will be a better president for the startups. They stress that Joe Biden’s programme stifles innovation through overregulation in fields like AI and burdensome taxes, such as the plan to introduce the unrealised capital gains tax (the tax on valuation increases).
Trump, they say, has a much more laissez-faire approach and wants to support startups operating in AI and crypto. But while many in Europe appreciate that Trump might be better for domestic business, some fear that his “America First” approach to global cooperation could be bad for international economic collaboration.
“It is a concern for sure — the isolationist stuff that the Trump camp spews out is alarming,” said one investor from the Baltics who describes themselves as a conservative. “That said, given who the Democrats have as their candidate, it is entirely unsurprising to me that large swathes of the US public are considering doing the unthinkable.”s
What’s your view on Silicon Valley’s top VCs supporting Trump’s campaign? Are you concerned or excited about his return to power? As always, we’re happy to hear your thoughts.
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