Some of America's biggest VC firms have pitched their flags in Europe in the last several years, enticed by the opportunities in one of the world’s liveliest startup scenes. And they’re backing some of the continent’s biggest movers and shakers: companies like mobility unicorn Bolt, buy now, pay later giant Klarna and Stability AI have all been the beneficiaries of American cash.
So far this year, 42% of the funding drummed up by Europe’s startups has come from investors based in the US, according to Dealroom — and it’s not just the cash making its way here. The firms are starting to permanently base partners across the pond in a hope of getting closer to deals.
Here are the US headquartered VCs with at least one partner now based in Europe. Sifted confirmed the partners and deal number with the firms. Where Dealroom data is used, the firms did not respond to a request for comment, or declined to comment on deal count.
Accel
HQ: California
Europe office: London
European investments in 2022: 24
European investments in 2023 so far: 5
In Europe, Accel has backed financial health app Anyfin and payment infrastructure startup Kevin. It was way ahead of many of its US VC counterparts and has had a London office since 2000, and closed its seventh fund focused on European early-stage startups in 2021.
Its London office has five partners, focused on investments in Europe and Israel:
- Sonali De Rycker
- Harry Nelis
- Philippe Botteri
- Andrei Brasoveanu
- Luca Bocchio
Bessemer Venture Partners
HQ: New York
Europe office: London
European investments in 2022, according to Dealroom: 12
European investments in 2023 so far, according to Dealroom: 6
Bessemer Venture Partners has backed European startups like restaurant supply chain platform Choco and cybersecurity company Eye Security. Two investors are based in its London office:
- Alex Ferrara
- Aditya Nidmarti
ff Venture Capital
European investments closed in 2023 so far: 4
- Maciej Skarul
- Mariusz Adamski
General Catalyst
HQ: California
Europe office: London
European investments in 2022: 22
European investments in 2023 so far: 12
General Catalyst’s European portfolio includes Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s Neko Health, fintech Payrails and Spanish unicorn TravelPerk. The VC has four partners based in its London office:
- Juliet Bailin
- Zeynep Yavuz
- Alexandre Momeni
- Chris Bischoff (managing director)
ICONIQ
HQ: California
Europe office: London
European investments in 2022, according to Dealroom: 1
European investments in 2023 so far, according to Dealroom: 4
ICONIQ has backed companies including AI startup Builder and autonomous accounting fintech Vic.AI. It has one general partner in its London office:
- Seth Pierrepont
Insight Partners
HQ: New York
Europe office: London
European investments in 2022: 20
European investments in 2023 so far: 8
Insight Partners is on the cap tables of startups including fintech Checkout.com, AI-powered damage assessment company Tractable and second-hand marketplace Vinted. While the US-based team also runs European deals, the firm has just one partner on the ground:
- Alessandro Luciano
Institutional Venture Partners (IVP)
HQ: California
Europe office: London
European investments in 2022: 2
European investments in 2023 so far: 2
IVP opened its London office in August 2023, led by GP Eric Liaw, James Black and Shreyas Garg, who will all be relocating from SF along with Alex Lim, who left Blossom Capital in May 2023 and is rejoining IVP as a GP to support the expansion. The firm already has some notable European startups in its portfolio, with 2023 investments including business planning platform Pigment, open banking fintech VOLT and AI startup DeepL.
Left Lane Capital
HQ: New York
Europe office: London
European investments in 2022, according to Dealroom: 8
European investments in 2023 so far, according to Dealroom: 4
Left Lane Capital invests in internet and consumer startups, and in Europe has backed Austrian tutoring platform unicorn GoStudent and challenger stockbroker Freetrade. It has five partners based in a London office:
- Paddy Dillon
- Coraline Kamuleta
- Georgia Forbes
- Shash Jha
- Kenza Zayani
Lightspeed Venture Partners
HQ: California
Europe offices: London, Paris and Berlin
European investments in 2022: 22
European investments in 2023 so far: 5
Lightspeed counts AI startup StabilityAI, HR startup Personio and grocery delivery service Zapp among its European portfolio. The fund’s partners on the ground in Europe are:
- Paul Murphy (London)
- Julie Kainz (London)
- Alexander Schmitt (Berlin)
- Antoine Moyroud (France)
MassMutual Ventures
HQ: Massachusetts
Europe offices: London
European investments in 2022: 4
European investments in 2023 so far: 4
MassMutual Ventures opened up a European office in London last year, having raised $300m to invest across Europe and Asia. It's made eight investments on the continent since then, including period product maker Daye and AI-powered therapy app Nyra Health. It has one partner leading the team:
- Ryan Collins (managing partner)
New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
HQ: Maryland
Europe offices: London
European investments in 2022, according to Dealroom: 7
European investments in 2023 so far, according to Dealroom: 5
NEA is one of the world's biggest VC firms — though it hasn't invested extensively in Europe, the deals it has closed include equity management tool Ledgy and Barcelona-based techbio SpliceBio. It has one partner in London:
- Phillip Chopin
Plug and Play
HQ: California
Europe offices: Paris, Munich
European investments in 2022, according to Dealroom: 91
European investments in 2023 so far, according to Dealroom: 35
Startup accelerator and venture investor Plug and Play is on the cap tables of startups like money transfer company PaySend (which raised $125m in Series B funding in 2021), identity verification service Onfido and autonomous freight company Einride.
There are two partners on the ground:
- Thomas Bigagli (Paris)
- Carolin Wais (Munich)
Sequoia
HQ: California
Europe office: London
European investments in 2022, according to Dealroom: : 31
European investments in 2023 so far, according to Dealroom: 8
Silicon Valley heavyweight Sequoia Capital has backed some of Europe’s biggest startup names, including Swedish buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant Klarna and Estonian mobility unicorn Bolt. It's chipped into eight rounds in Europe so far this year, including Norwegian B2B buy now, pay later startup Two and business insurance startup SureIn.
Sequoia currently has five Europe-based partners based in its London office:
- Luciana Lixandru
- George Robson
- Matt Miller
- Anas Biad
- Cornelius Menke
SOSV
HQ: New Jersey
Europe office: Cork, Ireland
European investments in 2022, according to Dealroom: 37
European investments in 2023 so far, according to Dealroom: 11
Deeptech VC SOSV’s European investments include cancer treatment testing platform Pear Bio, audio relaxation startup Kokoon Technology and sustainable commercial dye producer PILI. There are three partners in Europe:
- Bill Liao (Ireland)
- Stephen McCann (Ireland)
- Maria O’Brien (Ireland)
- Ben Joffe (Portugal)
Coming soon
Andreessen Horowitz
HQ: California
Europe office: London
European investments in 2022, according to Dealroom: 11
European investments in 2023 so far, according to Dealroom: 9
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has backed the likes of AI metaverse design platform Improbable and event tech startup Hopin. Its first European office, led by general partner Sriram Krishnan, will open later this year.
This article was last updated on September 14 2023.
