By
John K. Kumi
January 5th, 2022
After buying into American tech outfits, Coatue is now looking to set up shop in Europe to take advantage of its tech space.
US hedge fund Coatue Management says it plans to establish a new office in Europe. This is in a bid to take advantage of the growing tech industry on the continent.
Bloomberg first reported the news as confirmed to CNBC by a Coatue spokesperson. Speaking to CNBC, Coatue Ventures chairman Dan Rose said:
“We currently have offices in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong, and we’re excited to add an office in Europe at some point in the near future.”
Rose, who is a former Facebook and Amazon executive, further stated that his company identifies Europe as an emerging innovation hub in both the public and private markets. He pointed to the rise in venture capital activities taking place on the continent as further proof of this.
Coatue Grappled with Some Initial Challenges en route to Office Establishment in Europe
Founded by Philippe and Thomas Laffont in 1999 and headquartered in New York, Coatue is one of the world’s biggest tech investors. The firm has been injecting billions of dollars into fast-growing companies that it earmarks to grow bigger. Snap Inc (NYSE: SNAP), Spotify (NYSE: SPOT), and TikTok’s parent company ByteDance are some notable investments from Coatue.
As of the end of 2020, Coatue managed almost $38 billion for investors, according to an April regulatory filing. The company already backs several startups in Europe, including payment app Sunday, and Hopin Limited, a funding online events platform. Other supported companies are Gorillas Technologies GmbH, a delivery startup, and Choco, a restaurant ordering software provider.
A source within the venture capital space told CNBC that Coatue struggled with identifying the right people to hire in Europe. The source further suggested that London would most likely serve as the location for the Europe office. On why the company had such challenges finding the right fit, the source said, “There’s a huge scarcity of talent.” When contacted by the press to comment on the matter, Coatue declined.
Coatue’s anticipated arrival in Europe comes less than a year after Sequoia opened a new office in London. The prestigious Silicon Valley venture capital firm looks to house a small but growing team of European investors there. Furthermore, Sequoia is also seeking to hire another investor in the English capital to help find and secure deals across the continent. In addition, Tiger Global Management, another investment firm, financed several European startups this year.
European Startups on the Rise
After lagging behind the US and Asia for quite some time, European startups are now raising more money than ever. Furthermore, there are now several European firms with valuations similar to their peers elsewhere. GP Bullhound, an investment firm, released a June report which revealed that Europe now has 166 ‘unicorns’, companies with valuations of $1 billion or more. Furthermore, the 166 unicorns in Europe have a combined worth of over $800 billion. Half of that value only came into being within the past year.
According to CNBC, several other prominent US tech investment companies are also on the lookout for on-the-ground hires in Europe.
