Sequoia Closes London Office and Axes Arc as It Rewinds Expansion

Sequoia Capital is tearing up two decades of expansion in a sweeping restructure that includes closing its London office. In a memo titled The Sequoia of Tomorrow, posted on X, the venture giant said it has raised roughly 10 billion dollars in new funds, yet is choosing to simplify rather than grow, with several staff set to leave.

The firm is shutting its Arc accelerator, launched in March 2022, and its Scouts programme dating to around 2009. It is also merging early-stage and growth teams, flattening the partnership and ending the Monday partner meeting. Seven general partners now run the firm: Alfred Lin, Pat Grady, Andrew Reed, Shaun Maguire, Konstantine Buhler, Sonya Huang and David Cahn.

The memo admits it is scary to break something that is already working just fine. The London closure, of an office opened in 2020, will be felt by European founders, while the earlier 2023 split that created HongShan and Peak XV shows a firm steadily pulling decision-making back to its core team.