Accel Partners has appointed Fred Destin, formerly with Atlas Venture in Boston, as Partner. Destin has along reputation as an experienced early stage VC, first in Europe, then the US, and now he is returning. He will begin work after the summer.
Talking to TechCrunch, Destin said he is “Super excited to come back to the European tech scene. Five years ago we had to prove ourselves, but now there’s a bunch of billion dollar companies coming down the pipe. TechCrunch got it right when it called it ‘the rise of the Europe megaround’, as startups can now raise $20-40 million now. Accel has the ability to play multistage which is great.”
Destin returns to works with former colleagues Harry Nelis, Partner at Accel London (whom he has sat on company boards with) and Accel partner Sonali de Rycker, who was a colleague at Atlas before she joined Accel.
Nelis said: “We are thrilled to welcome Fred to the team. He brings with him a deep working knowledge of the European market and proven success investing in the region, particularly at the early stage. As entrepreneurship continues to flourish, his strong experience bolsters the team’s capabilities to invest in the most disruptive innovation across Europe and Israel.”
Destin has been investing in technology startups for 14 years, most recently at Atlas Venture, which he joined in March 2004. He has a strong history of success in Europe, notably as the seed investor and sole investor director for UK online real estate stalwart Zoopla and a first round investor in Dailymotion, the largest European digital media site (sold to France Telecom). Additional European early-stage investments include Secret Escapes, the exclusive members only travel club; The Currency Cloud, the leading Payments-as-a-Service platform; and PriceMinister, a leading French e-commerce marketplace (sold to Rakuten).
Destin was a co-founding investor of Seedcamp, where he was an active board member for 5 years, and an engaged mentor and supporter of TechStars Boston.