Index Ventures

Today, I am really excited to finally announce a first investment for Index Ventures in mobile gaming. Along with a great syndicate of two new firms, London Venture Partners and Initial Capital, we are investing $2.5m in Grey Area, the Company behind the next big mobile gaming phenomenon - Shadow Cities. (Press Release & Techcrunch)

Eighteen months have gone by since I joined the Index family and became a venture capitalist. I still consider myself an outsider to the VC industry, but, time does fly when you are having fun… Before my tenure here, I had been in operating and corporate roles for 17 years. Perhaps because of that, every so often, people ask me what the biggest differences are between working in a company and being an investor. I normally rattle off some stream-of-consciousness answer to the question without giving too much thought to it. But, a few weeks ago, my 12-year old son asked the question: so Dad, what is it like to be a venture capitalist?

This morning, Amazon announced they had reached an agreement to acquire the remaining shares in Lovefilm International.

Lovefilm International has a complex history, but having been a founding member of one of the three core businesses that make up the family, and now a board member for Index, I have more than a passing interest in this deal and wanted to take a moment to post some thoughts and thanks.

Today we’re excited to announce that Index is opening its fourth office and that Danny and Mike will be going to the Bay Area to get it going.

For us this feels like a big move. But truth be told, although Index was born in Europe and has been based in Geneva, London and Jersey, we’ve always dedicated ourselves to backing the best entrepreneurs and helping them build the best companies on both sides of the Atlantic and this means our hearts have always been both here and in the US.

It seems that it remains fashionable to knock the London startup community - especially if you’re a former resident. There is no question that London (and Europe) has a long way to go. But we really believe London has a lot to offer as world-class design & marketing, access to global markets and significant capital become more and more of a competitive advantage for ambitious companies.