Sequoia closes London office and shuts down Arc and Scouts programs — TechCrunch

Venture firm Sequoia Capital has announced the closure of its London office, the discontinuation of the Arc accelerator and the Scouts program, as well as the merger of its early-stage investment and growth-stage investment teams. The company announced these changes in a memorandum titled “The Sequoia of Tomorrow,” TechCrunch reports.

Sequoia said it had raised about $10 billion for new funds. It also plans to simplify its partnership structure, abandon the regular Monday cycle of partner meetings, and operate as one team without a division into Early and Growth.

End of programs for early startups

The Scouts program had operated since approximately 2009: founders and operators received small checks to invest on Sequoia’s behalf. Through it, the company gained access to deals with young founders. Among the examples cited by TechCrunch are Sequoia’s introduction to Uber through Jason Calacanis and to Stripe through Sam Altman.

The Arc accelerator was launched in March 2022 for companies at the pre-seed and seed stages. The program lasted seven weeks, and selected startups received between $500,000 and $1 million in initial funding. Sequoia explained the winding down of both programs by its intention to concentrate more resources on fewer people and areas.

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London office and new structure

Sequoia opened its London office in 2020. Following its closure, some employees will leave the company. The memorandum states that Sequoia does not consider it necessary to maintain a local presence in Europe and plans to support European founders from its base in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sequoia’s European partner Luciana Lixandru said she was offered a move to San Francisco but declined. She will remain a partner at the firm, retain her board seats, and continue personally investing in European founders.

Seven general partners

The company said its owners and leaders are seven general partners: Alfred Lin, Pat Grady, Andrew Reed, Shaun Maguire, Konstantine Buhler, Sonya Huang, and David Cahn. Sequoia described the changes as a departure from an approximately 20-year period of expansion that, in its assessment, led to a more complex internal hierarchy.