HV Capital is set to open an office in the UK, months after the German multistage VC firm announced a slew of senior promotions across the firm.
Founded in 2000, HV Capital invests across fintech, B2B, mobility, sustainability and enterprise SaaS verticals. The firm has enjoyed its fair share of exits over the past 25 years, including e-commerce platform Depop, food delivery app Delivery Hero and meal prep company HelloFresh.
HV Capital will open an office in a Central London members club in the spring, according to two people familiar with the matter. The firm is hiring a partner to run the office, which will be HV Capital’s first outside of its native Germany where it has offices in Berlin and Munich.
According to filings submitted to the UK’s business registry Companies House, HV Capital Advisers was incorporated locally in December, describing the nature of its business as “activities of venture and development capital companies”. The filings list Zuzanna Czapinska, a principal at the firm, as director.
HV’s list of UK-based investments included companies such as payments fintech SumUp, open banking company Yapily and independent food app Delli.
HV did not respond to Sifted’s request for comment.
VC shakeups
HV is putting down roots in the UK as some VC firms pull back from the country. Last month, Silicon Valley stalwart Andreessen Horowitz announced it was closing its UK office less than two years after it opened.
HV recently underwent a shakeup in its ranks, announcing a series of promotions last autumn.
Speaking at the time, general partner Rainer Märkle told Sifted he regretted the lack of women partners at the firm. “While we may hire a strong performing female partner externally if the right fit comes along, our clear priority is to look within our own firm to develop our talent,” he said.
Felix Klühr and Barbod Namini were both promoted to general partner from partner, while David Fischer and Fabian Gruner were promoted from principal to partner. HV declined to comment at the time how the moves impacted the distribution of management fees and carry.
On the topic of HV’s succession plans, Märkle told Sifted: “As an LP, when you enter a fund commitment, it’s technically a 10 plus year commitment to the fund, and in most cases it even takes a bit longer.
“So you need very good visibility on who is running the shop — not just today, but who will be the key people in five, seven, ten years time that you bank your long-term investment on.”
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/hv-capital-london-office-news/
