A new office and a great hire: a big day for GR Capital
In London they have a phrase — you wait a long time for a bus, then two come along at once. And today it is a bit like that!
It only feels like yesterday that I founded GR Capital. Three years have passed since then, and today we are passing two substantial milestones for our business that we are extremely proud of: The opening of our London office in the heart of the hub of European venture, and the appointment of our new partner Jason Ball and Gopi Selveswaran as Director, Head of Investor Relations who will be based there.
But let me start from the beginning. Even though I spent half my working life in investment banking I was always fascinated by technology and was keen to find a way to help digitalize day-to-day lives.
During my time in banking, I was able to build an extensive network of investors, innovators and disrupters across all industries. I wanted to have a true impact on the development of industries and especially, how technology can disrupt sectors. This brought me into venture capital.
In the beginning, we were a team of two. Fast forward to now and there are 20 of us, all dedicated to scaling-up technology and logistics businesses. And today’s it’s also my pleasure to welcome to the team our 21st and 22 nd member, venture capital industry veteran, Jason Ball, and Gopi Selveswaran.
I have always envisaged having a base in London as a key milestone for the business, and with this new office, we can bridge the gap between core-Europe and Eastern Europe by opening new doors and revealing exciting opportunities.
This ability is one of the things that sets us apart from the crowd. We see a huge opportunity here to connect our portfolio companies, European entrepreneurs and investors and to give them unique R&D opportunities in the growth region of Eastern Europe.
All the crucial ingredients for a fruitful VC ecosystem are here: access to capital, to markets and, thanks to Britain’s exceptionally strong universities, access to talent. This makes London a desirable hub for both entrepreneurs and investors and for us at GR Capital.
The London office, alongside our existing Kyiv presence, gives us a strong foundation to provide continued unparalleled global growth support for the most disruptive and ground-breaking tech companies that have already proven business models and scaling capacity.
It was important for me to find a likeminded person that shares the same values and visions as we do at GR Capital to be our partner at the London Office. Jason is exactly that and will be a part of an office that will be the gateway to the heart of Europe’s venture capital, startup and tech scene. He will bring our unique energy and GR Capital spirit to the UK’s capital.
I came across Jason a lot in recent years in and around the VC world. He spent over ten years as a mentor at Seed Camp and individually invested in more than eight companies. Prior to that Jason worked at Qualcomm Ventures as their European Managing Director for over a decade. He’s got over 16 years of experience in venture capital and has a great track record in our industry with personal investments in Monzo and Citymapper. He is the ideal appointment to this strategically integral role.
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