Sequoia Capital, certainly one of Silicon Valley’s most distinguished enterprise capital corporations, is shedding its Washington, D.C.-based coverage group and shuttering its workplace there, simply as some tech-related firms attempt to enhance their visibility within the U.S. capital after President Trump’s re-election.
The adjustments will take impact on the finish of March and impression three full-time workers in addition to coverage fellows who labored with the agency. Sequoia confirmed the layoff whereas two sources acquainted with the matter who requested anonymity as a result of the subject is delicate, stated that the agency would shut its Washington workplace.
Sequoia says it had arrange its small coverage group 5 years in the past—in the course of the first Trump Administration—to advise its funding group and portfolio firms on regulatory points, deepen its information of the coverage panorama, and strengthen its connections with international policymakers, specialists, and assume tanks. Don Vieira, who had held senior nationwide safety positions on the Division of Justice and Home Everlasting Choose Committee on Intelligence, opened the workplace, in response to his LinkedIn. Vieria will go away the agency as a part of the adjustments. He didn’t reply to requests for remark.
“Thanks to [the policy group’s] strategic guidance and efforts, Sequoia is now well-positioned to carry these relationships in the U.S. and Europe forward,” a Sequoia spokesperson stated. “To that end, we are sunsetting the dedicated policy function and closing our D.C. office at the end of March. We are grateful to the team for their contributions and impact.”
The adjustments at Sequoia are in distinction to tech firms which have been rising their visibility in Washington, D.C. since President Trump’s re-election. Meta in January employed Joel Kaplan, former deputy chief of workers to former President George W. Bush, to go its international coverage group and CEO Mark Zuckerburg has visited Trump on the White Home and Mar-a-Lago.
Another enterprise capital corporations have been beefing up their presence in Washington, D.C. to assist portfolio firms that function in extremely regulated or political industries like protection, crypto, or AI. Enterprise capital agency Andreessen Horowitz, for instance, which has had a number of of its companions take official or advisory positions within the White Home, lately employed Patrick McHenry, the previous North Carolina congressman, and Matt Cronin, former Chief Investigative Counsel and Deputy Basic Counsel for the U.S. Home Choose Committee on Strategic Competitors, as senior advisors to the agency. Final fall, earlier than the election, Basic Catalyst launched what it calls the “General Catalyst Institute” to affect AI, healthcare, protection and intelligence, manufacturing, and vitality coverage.
Sequoia Capital has traditionally remained politically impartial as a agency, despite the fact that lots of its companions individually categorical political opinions or make giant donations to presidential candidates. High companion Roelof Botha stated final summer time that he’s not registered with both political occasion, however that he’s “more focused on the policies that will drive entrepreneurship, job creation, and making sure that the United States stays ahead.”
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
