Sequoia Capital is closing its London office and cutting staff, ending a physical European presence it set up in 2020 and that grew to six partners by 2023. The firm will handle European deals from the Bay Area, despite having raised about $10bn in new funds.
The Silicon Valley firm, an early backer of Apple, Airbnb and Stripe, announced the closure in a blog post on Wednesday. It said several people would leave the firm, and that the decision reflected the team's location rather than its performance.
Sequoia said it would keep investing in European founders, but would now provide support from its Bay Area headquarters, adding that it did not see the need for a local presence.
A broader reset
The London closure is one part of a wider overhaul. Sequoia has also scrapped its Arc accelerator and its Scouts programme, the angel network that gave operators and founders capital to make early cheques on the firm's behalf.
It is also streamlining investment teams and removing the internal split between early-stage and growth investing. The firm described the new approach as high-conviction and highly selective, backing fewer companies, and said its goal was quality rather than scale.
The changes follow a leadership transition. With roughly $10bn of new capital raised, the move is a strategic retreat rather than a response to a shortage of money.
What it means for UK cap tables
Sequoia came to London in 2020, hiring former Accel partner Luciana Lixandru to lead its European operations. Closing the office now raises practical questions for UK portfolio companies about board seats, follow-on support and who they deal with day to day, although the firm says its support will continue from California.
The exit also underlines how much British start-ups rely on overseas capital. According to Dealroom figures commissioned by the government, UK start-ups raised $23.7bn (£17.8bn) in 2025, up 33% on 2024, with London taking almost three-quarters of the total. But foreign investors provided 74% of that money.
The timing is awkward for ministers. Sequoia's announcement came a week after the Autumn Budget, which included new tax incentives meant to draw more investment into British start-ups.
What's next
Scrapping Scouts and Arc cuts off two of the main ways early-stage UK founders reached Sequoia. In practice, European access will now depend on Bay Area partners choosing to travel for deals.
How many of the firm's European portfolio companies get Series A and B follow-ons from US-based teams will show whether "Europe from California" works. It will also show whether the space Sequoia leaves in London is filled by domestic funds or by the US rivals that have kept offices in the city.
Original source: City AM — https://www.cityam.com/sequoia-scraps-london-office-as-uk-employees-face-axe/ (also reported by Sifted — https://sifted.eu/articles/sequoia-closes-london-office/)
