Lightspeed Venture Partners has hired Paul Murphy and Ross Mason to head up its push into Europe as Silicon Valley VCs step up the hunt for deals on the continent.
The move from the Menlo Park-based VC fund—which has backed Snapchat, Affirm and Epic Games—to put down roots in London comes as funding raising and the valuation of European startups have skyrocketed in the last year.
Investors have plowed over $50 billion into European startups this year alone with the valuation of the continent’s most valuable startup Klarna leaping to $45.6 billion in June from $10 billion in September. That shift came as investors stopped viewing Europe as an arbitrage play, with valuations typically lower than American rivals, and saw the potential for British and European startups to become global winners, says Murphy.
“This is Europe’s moment. There are so many amazing companies being built right now by incredible founders and everything is primed now,” says Murphy. “The question was not whether we should enter Europe, but should we go big.” A generation of European founders who have built experience at, or sold a business, to a Silicon Valley startup, talented developers, and a huge, albeit, fragmented market was now driving the surge in valuation, says Murphy.just two years after its launch; e-scooter startup Tier Mobility and videogame developer Klang, after joining London-based early-stage investor Northzone in 2018.