Venture Capital/VC/News/ Lakestar partner steps down after decade at the VC firm Manu Gupta is leaving prominent European VC firm, Lakestar. By Isabel Woodford 3 July 2020 \Venture Capital How VCs' lack of succession planning is leaving big firms without a future By Mimi Billing 27 January 2023 Venture Capital/VC/News/ Lakestar partner steps down after decade at the VC firm Manu Gupta is leaving prominent European VC firm, Lakestar. By Isabel Woodford 3 July 2020 Manu Gupta, a founding partner at Lakestar, is leaving the European venture firm after nearly a decade. The serial investor told Sifted he has decided to step down later this summer and would begin a sabbatical until his non-compete clause is up. Gupta helped set up early-stage venture firm Lakestar, which was founded in 2013 and has backed companies such as digital bank Revolut, delivery startup Glovo and travel company GetYourGuide. Lakestar has become one of the most influential players in the European venture capital scene, last year raising $735m for its two European investment funds. This was one of the largest raises in European venture, which has seen a wave of fresh capital in recent years. That same year Atomico, the London-based tech investment firm, raised a $820m fund while Accel raised a $575m fund. Lakestar has traditionally invested across early-stage companies in the fintech, proptech and travel tech space. Other notable investments include Omio, Harry’s, SoFi, Opendoor and Oscar to name a few. Gupta, who is on the board of more than a dozen companies such as Omio and Helpling, will leave behind seven other (all male) partners, including founder and chief executive Klaus Hommels, who was an early-stage investor in the likes of Facebook and Spotify. Sources close to Lakestar say they are beginning discussions about a fresh hire to replace Gupta. Recent new bets by Lakestar include Soulmachine, a New Zealand-based designer of artificial intelligence-based ‘avatars’ for interacting with computers, and Eigen Technologies, a London-based startup that uses natural language processing to help banks and other businesses analyse documents in bulk. Related Articles Sophia Bendz leaves Atomico to join Cherry Ventures as partner By Amy Lewin Click here to read more Europe’s top Series A investors By Amy Lewin Click here to read more These are the pitch decks which helped two fintechs raise $34m amid the coronavirus pandemic By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more Most Read 1 \Healthtech Is Daniel Ek’s new body scanner worth the hype? Sifted tried it out 2 \Venture Capital VC diversity needs to change — and white men need to take responsibility 3 \Venture Capital New €3.75bn European Investment Fund pot to back late-stage VCs 4 \Sustainability Counteract closes £15m fund for carbon removal solutions 5 \Mobility Was the $5bn that VCs plugged into escooters worth it?
These are the pitch decks which helped two fintechs raise $34m amid the coronavirus pandemic By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more