New and Notables
06
Klaus Hommels
FIRM: Lakestar
NOTABLE DEAL: Airbnb
His firm Lakestar became the first European venture fund to launch a SPAC on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange when it merged with travel startup HomeToGo in a $1.4 billion deal in July 2021. While the blank-check company helped Lakestar’s business stand out, Hommels says it also served a higher purpose: “We do need to systematically create our own products to be in a position to independently, from Europe, fund the innovation that makes a difference to life.” Read More
Saul Klein
14
FIRM: LocalGlobe
NOTABLE DEAL: Melio
In 2021, Klein celebrated eight IPOs from the portfolio companies of VC firm LocalGlobe and its growth-stage sister fund Latitude, both of which he launched with father Robin Klein. Many of those companies hail from within a four-hour train ride of his office in London – a swathe of the U.K., France and the Netherlands he dubs the “new Palo Alto.” “We are still very early in the evolution of the public markets for European tech but the wave has been building and capital is global,” says the younger Klein. Read More
Rahul Mehta
17
FIRM: DST Global
NOTABLE DEAL: DoorDash
After his appearance on the international Midas List in April, Mehta makes his Midas List Europe debut due to two of his biggest bets coming home to roost: DoorDash, where he co-led three consecutive funding rounds starting in 2018, and Robinhood, where he led three starting in 2017, both went public in 2021. Each company returned gains of more than $1 billion back to the Dubai-based investor’s firm, DST Global. Read More
