London, United Kingdom · Venture CapitalAccel is a top-tier global venture capital firm with a dedicated European team based in London. Established in Silicon Valley in 1983, Accel expanded to London in the early 2000s and has since become a leading backer of European tech unicorns. The Accel London fund invests broadly in consumer and enterprise technology companies from seed through growth stage. Accel’s Europe portfolio reads like a who’s-who of success stories – it was an early investor in Spotify, Facebook, and Slack, and in Europe it has funded Klarna, Hopin, and Cazoo among others. For example, Accel’s London team led rounds in Hopin (virtual events) and Klarna (fintech), both of which achieved multibillion-dollar valuations. The firm often takes board seats and provides hands-on support to founders in scaling globally. Accel is known for its deep network in Silicon Valley and Europe, helping bridge entrepreneurs to US markets. It manages multiple funds dedicated to Europe, including Accel London and Accel Europe, and typically invests from Series A onward (with selective seed bets). Notably, Accel was the first Silicon Valley VC to establish a permanent presence in London, reflecting its conviction in Europe’s tech potential. With over three decades of VC experience, Accel has the distinction of having backed over 100 unicorns worldwide. Its London arm continues to actively invest across sectors – from fintech and SaaS to cybersecurity and web3 – making Accel a cornerstone investor in Europe’s startup ecosystem. In short, Accel (London) combines global reach with local insight, helping Europe’s breakout startups scale to international success.
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London, United Kingdom · Venture CapitalIndex Ventures is a globally renowned venture capital firm that originated in Europe and has been instrumental in scaling many of the continent’s top tech companies. Founded in Geneva in 1996 by the Daly brothers and Neil Rimer, Index later opened major offices in London and San Francisco, making it a transatlantic VC powerhouse. Index invests at all stages (seed to growth), though it is especially prominent in Series A/B in Europe. The firm has an extraordinary track record: it was an early backer of Skype (sold to eBay), Last.fm (sold to CBS), Supercell (acquired by Tencent), and MySQL (acquired by Sun) in the 2000s, and more recently of Deliveroo, Adyen, Figma, Revolut, Robinhood and Notion – to name a few. Index’s portfolio spans consumer and enterprise: it has seeded fashion marketplaces like ASOS and Farfetch, scaled up fintech stars like TransferWise (Wise) and Robinhood, and supported open-source and SaaS successes (Elastic, Confluent, Collibra). The firm manages multiple funds (it raised a $3B+ set of funds in 2022) and often co-invests across its early and growth funds to support companies long-term. Index is particularly known for its knack in consumer-facing startups and its ability to spot trends early (e.g., it led Patreon’s Series A in the creator economy space, and Discord’s seed in gaming communication). Partners at Index are a cosmopolitan bunch – with backgrounds ranging from gaming entrepreneurs to investment bankers – and they bring a strong network in both Silicon Valley and Europe. Uniquely, Index also has a life sciences arm (Index Life) that invested in companies like Moderna. In Europe, Index has been among the top three most active VCs by number of unicorns backed. For example, Index led Deliveroo’s Series B in 2014 and remained a major shareholder through its 2021 IPO. Similarly, Index was pivotal in Adyen’s growth (now a ~$50B payments giant). Culturally, Index is known for being founder-friendly and global in outlook – encouraging its European portfolio to expand to the US when needed and vice versa. It also frequently publishes insightful content (e.g., Bernard Dallé’s guides on SaaS metrics or interviews with founders). As of 2025, Index Ventures stands as a gold-standard VC, with a portfolio boasting dozens of IPOs and acquisitions, and a current crop of rising stars across continents.
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