What happened
Sequoia is shutting down its scout program and closing its London office as part of a wide-ranging restructuring the firm laid out this week in a memo published on X, TechCrunch reported. The memo did not argue against scouting itself. Sequoia presented the changes as a push for sharper focus, concentrating effort on a smaller set of people and priorities.
Reaction among investors was split. Venture capitalist Sheel Mohnot wrote on X that the model had never made sense to him. He argued that scouts have little stake in the deals they back and that the program did not stop Sequoia from missing Uber. He added that he expects other firms to close their programs as well.
Station F head Roxanne Varza, who scouted for Sequoia from 2020 to 2025, said on LinkedIn she was sad about the decision and hoped other funds would not copy it. She told TechCrunch that scouting often served as a path into investing for people who later joined or launched funds, that it helped shape early-stage investing in Europe, and that she expects arrangements resembling venture partner deals to carry on.
Context
Sequoia introduced scouting 17 years ago, letting selected founders and operators invest on its behalf, and many firms copied it as competition for deals rose. Andreessen Horowitz built a global scout network covering the U.S. and smaller European hubs. Earlier this year, a16z's Gabriel Vasquez said the firm had cut scout numbers and given the remaining scouts bigger budgets and more duties, such as co-hosting dinners.
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