20 VC 086: Starting A New Venture Fund and How London Compares To The US with Hussein Kanji @ Hoxton Ventures

Global Perspectives

Hussein Kanji, founder of Hoxton Ventures, shares insights on the evolving landscape of venture capital in Europe compared to the US. He highlights the challenges large funds face in early-stage investing, as they often focus on later-stage ventures due to economic constraints. This creates a vacuum in early-stage funding, which Hoxton aims to fill by leveraging global distribution platforms like Facebook's API and the App Store 1. Hussein believes Europe needs more venture capital to reach critical mass, unlike the US, where there's an abundance of capital chasing too few deals 2.

I think it's the opposite in Europe. I actually think we need more money in Europe, not less.

--- Hussein Kanji

He emphasizes the need for more venture firms in Europe to strengthen the ecosystem and support startups in scaling globally.

   

European Startups

The growth of European startups is driven by a shift in global distribution platforms, allowing companies to scale internationally from their home base. Hussein notes that this change has attracted more US venture capital to Europe, with two-thirds of Series B funding in London coming from American VCs 3. This influx of capital is a testament to the increasing viability of European startups on the global stage.

You can build massively scalable businesses from Europe.

--- Hussein Kanji

He also explains that the historical lack of large-scale successes in Europe led to a withdrawal of venture capital, but the current landscape is much more promising with numerous examples of successful European companies 4.