Announcement
We’re Building a London-based Bridge to Europe
Silicon Valley has for decades been the technology sector’s center of gravity and, thus, the hub for venture capital. Since IVP’s founding in 1980, we’ve partnered with innovators. One of technology’s greatest gifts is its ability to make the world a more connected place. As that has happened, we’ve seen innovation spread as talented entrepreneurs choose to build their companies in locations that are far beyond a short drive from Sand Hill Road.
While the Bay Area will always be home for IVP, we’re proud to have supported Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy (Snapchat) and Ian Siegel (ZipRecruiter) in LA and Emily Weiss (Glossier), Olivier Pomel & Alexis Lê-Quôc (Datadog), Brad Katsuyama (IEX), Brian Long (Attentive) and others in New York. Looking even further out, across the Atlantic, we have partnered with industry-defining entrepreneurs like Ilkka Paananen (Supercell), Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus (Wise), Daniel Dines (UiPath) among many others.
We believe in the world-changing potential of technology and that entrepreneurs will continue to build industry-defining companies outside of Silicon Valley. True to that belief, and to move closer to the next generation of European entrepreneurs and the iconic companies they’re building, we’re opening IVP’s first office outside the Bay Area, in London.
Though our permanent presence in London is new (and very exciting!), our history in Europe goes back more than a decade and includes a number of notable IPOs and exits (Supercell, UiPath, Wise, MySQL) as well as more recent investments in some of the most promising companies in AI, fintech, cybersecurity and enterprise infrastructure – including DeepL, Volt, Pigment, Aiven, SEON and Veriff.
To anchor this commitment to Europe, I am – after 12 years with IVP and 2 decades in Bay Area venture capital – relocating to London with my family. But I can’t (and wouldn’t want to) do this alone, which brings me to the other thrilling piece of news to share today: Alex Lim is returning to IVP as our newest General Partner. For Alex, a United Kingdom native and enduring Chelsea supporter, returning to IVP, in London, is a double reunion. At IVP, from 2015 to 2021, he played a key role in forging our partnerships with UiPath, Discord, Supermetrics and Sorare.
As we always have, IVP wins as a team, and in addition to Alex and me, IVP partner James Black and investor Shreyas Garg will also be relocating to London. With an accomplished group of investors, we’ll be on the ground to meet with founders, co-investors and operators earlier in their journeys and partner with them just as they hit their stride. We are excited to spend more time with the members of Europe’s tech ecosystem IRL, whether that’s a tube, train or (now much shorter) flight away.
As with every extraordinary opportunity, opening IVP’s London office is also a formidable challenge, one that I’m eager to take on. Why? Because in the post-pandemic era, this is a moment I (and my family) are ready to energetically meet. In the words of Nicholas Murray Butler, “There are the few who make things happen, the many more who watch things happen….” And I’ve never been too keen on watching.
