What happened
Sequoia Capital has secured about $10 billion in fresh capital while dismantling several programs and offices it built over about 20 years, TechCrunch reported. In a memo the firm posted on X on Wednesday, Sequoia said it is closing its London office, ending its Arc accelerator and Scouts program, combining its early-stage and growth teams, flattening its partnership and dropping its Monday partner meeting.
The memo said the firm no longer sees a need for a local presence in Europe and believes it can back European founders from the Bay Area. Several people will leave as a result. Luciana Lixandru, Sequoia's first European partner, said she turned down a move to San Francisco and will remain a partner, keep her board seats and invest personally in European founders.
The firm said seven general partners now own and run it: co-stewards Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, along with David Cahn, Sonya Huang, Andrew Reed, Konstantine Buhler and Shaun Maguire. Jess Lee, who oversaw Arc, now appears as chief product officer rather than as an investor, and Stephanie Zhan has left to start her own firm. Former Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach rejoined full-time in March.
Context
Sequoia launched Scouts around 2009, letting founders and operators write small checks on its behalf, and started Arc in March 2022 as a seven-week batch program offering $500,000 to $1 million. The London exit follows Andreessen Horowitz closing its London office last year and Coatue doing so in 2024. In 2023 Sequoia spun off its businesses in China and in India/Southeast Asia, now known as HongShan and Peak XV.
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