I am delighted to join the team at Promus Ventures and help establish our presence in the European market. I have been active in the European Venture Capital market for the best part of the last 15 years, initially at Atlas Ventures where I learned the trade from some of the best VCs in the business.
There I was taught the basics and given the tools to support founders beyond the initial investment. I also stumbled upon my calling as a VC, a job that could fulfil my natural intellectual curiosity and varied enough so that I could build a broad range of skills and knowledge base.
In mid-2008, I moved on to focus on a very exciting and emerging sector: cleantech, as it was called at the time. I spent the next few years investing and helping portfolio companies operating in a nascent and challenging industry that quickly fell out of favour with the investment community due to its long product development and sales cycles, poor unit economics, lack of end-markets and, ultimately, disappointing returns. While I was right on the direction of travel, I was completely off on market timing, one of the critical determinants of company and investment performance. I am glad I had this experience, as It gave me a different perspective and taught me to love our planet and seek to protect it. I also developed a taste for breakthrough innovation and companies with high levels of intellectual property and working on complex problems.
With Promus Ventures, I have gone full circle and found a platform whose ethos matches mine: focus on founders addressing complex problems, founder-friendly mentality and a very open and collaborative culture, with high respect and integrity. I am grateful for the opportunity and couldn’t be more proud to partner with Mike and Gareth as we continue to build the Promus Ventures platform. With our roots and connectivity in the US market and early commitment to DeepTech start-ups, I feel we are ideally placed to back ambitious European founders and help them take their companies to the next level. Promus Ventures is not completely virgin in Europe, having invested in emerging leaders such as ICEYE, Spire, Crosslend or Bellabeat and, with a dedicated team on the ground in Europe, we will be ramping up this effort over the coming years. Founders, feel free to give us a shout, as we are now officially on the ground in Europe!
Recipients of this post are not to construe it as investment, legal, or tax advice, and it is not intended to provide the basis for any evaluation of an investment in any fund. Prospective investors should consult with their own legal, investment, tax, accounting, and other advisors to determine the potential benefits, burdens, and risks associated with making an investment in any fund.
