Sequoia Capital to close London office in retreat to Silicon Valley

LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Sequoia Capital is closing its London office and several people will be leaving the company, the technology-focused venture capital firm said on Wednesday.

The decision is a setback for London and British efforts to build a bigger local tech and AI industry by attracting more funding for startups in Europe.

"This is not about the team — they are excellent.  We simply don’t see the need for a local presence," the company said in a statement. "We believe that Europe will continue to produce outlier founders and companies, and that we can continue to provide world class support from our home base in the Bay Area." 

Britain has been trying to position itself as a base from which tech and AI-focused companies can thrive, even as the US dominates in AI-related fundraising. Many tech firms that start out in Europe have later sought investors and success in the US as they try to accelerate growth.  

Sequoia, one of the best-known venture capital firms, was founded in California in 1972 and is famed as an early backer of companies including Apple and Airbnb.

In its statement, Sequoia said that a 20-year phase of expansion, including internationally, had created hierarchy and it wanted to make internal changes to flatten its structure.

In 2024 it split off its Chinese and Indian/Southeast Asian businesses into two independent firms operating under their own brands.

Sequoia has raised about $10 billion in new funds, the company also said in its statement on Wednesday, without giving details on a time period. 

(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes in London; Editing by Maju Samuel and Matthew Lewis)