It has been a busy few months for Atomico, the European venture capital that was founded by the co- creator of Skype. After promoting three investors to partner back in April, it then brought in a former Revolut andUber executive as a partner.
Atomico today announced that former Balderton Principal Laura Connell has joined as its newest partner.
The appointment comes a little more than two years after Atomico closed its fifth fund at $820 million and with two new funds in the works, it is clear that the company is preparing to scale despite a broader economic downturn.
The elephant is in the room. A giant reset has hit valuations for public and private companies alike, while mass layoffs are affecting companies of all sizes. A fresh round of funding has just been confirmed by Atomico's portfolio company Klarna.
It isn't the worst time to be an investor, with valuations being brought crashing back to reality after a period of crazy valuations. The experiment of force-feeding late-stage companies is over.
Connell said that everyone had a front row seat for the correction. I think that is a product of the exuberance of 2020 and H1 and an era of cheap money. The world looks in some ways more normal today. The correction is also an opportunity for the best founders to really show their true colors and get ahead of the pack.
There are at least a dozen investments Atomico has made so far this year, and there are new funds in the works across the venture and growth spectrum. There is going to be a lot of money for the right kinds of startup. For growth-stage companies, like the ones that Connell will be focused on, the same research and due diligence will be required as before to build what Connell calls a "high level of conviction."
The best investments come from deep insights. We have a chance to keep building unique and differentiated insights. Keep the threshold high for the kind of entrepreneurs we want to work with.
It is worth noting that Connell was already well-acquainted with Atomico, given that both Balderton and Atomico have invested in a number of the same companies.
Connell was an investor at Marcho Partners, a global tech hedge fund. According to Connell, the move was a strategic one.
Connell said that a lot of funds are looking at ways to expand their capital base from private to public markets. It was a good time to get some experience building a fund out on the public side because I was wondering how best I could serve a lot of growth-stage founders that I worked with. My heart has always been on the private side and I always wanted to come back full-time to do private work.
Connell said that dipping into the public investment sphere for a year could benefit all the companies that have one eye on the public markets.
It helps founders navigate choppy capital markets, be it on the later-stage private side or if they think about going to market for an IPO or a direct listing, which is a different animal.
There is a global aspect to think about. Her time at Marcho took Connell into the U.S., Southeast Asia and Latin America, as well as Europe. Current and future portfolio companies could benefit from this.
Connell said that he has spent a lot of time looking at some of the newer emerging ecosystems in places like Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia, which he hopes will help him in Europe.
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