Robin Klein (venture capitalist)
Robin Klein | |
|---|---|
| Born | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Alma mater | University of the Witwatersrand |
| Occupation | Partner at Index Ventures Founding Partner at The Accelerator Group (TAG) |
| Spouse | Hanna Klein |
| Children | Saul Klein and Dr. Melanie Morris |
| Relatives | Jonathan Klein (brother), co-founder and CEO of Getty Images;[1] Martin Klein |
Robin Klein (born December 1947[2]) is a British entrepreneur and investor. He was until 2015 a venture partner at Index Ventures and co-founder of The Accelerator Group, an advisor and investor in early-stage companies.[3] In April 2015, he and his son, Saul founded LocalGlobe, a seed stage venture capital firm.
Early life and education
[edit]Klein was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, specialising in cybernetics,[4] and a Master of Science degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, in 1969. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1976.[5]
Career
[edit]From 1991–1997, Klein was chairman and CEO of Innovations Group PLC, which conducted the first documented e-commerce transaction in the UK, in May 1995.[6] Klein was managing director, marketing and home shopping, at Arcadia, from 1996–99.[citation needed] Klein started his investing career in earnest in 1998, co-founding The Accelerator Group (TAG), a vehicle for investing in early-stage internet services, e-commerce and digital media businesses, with his son, Saul Klein.[7]
From 2010 to 2015 Klein was a venture partner at Index Ventures. He ran Index Seed, Index Ventures' seed fund, in partnership with TAG.[8]
In April 2015, Saul and Robin founded LocalGlobe, a Venture Capital Firm focusing on early stage (Seed) investment in Technology enabled businesses. They raised LocalGlobe 7, a fund of £45m by October 2015 and LocalGlobe 8, a £70m fund in March 2017.
Klein has been an early-stage investor in a number of companies, including Agent Provocateur (acquired by private equity firm 3i for £60m),[9] Lastminute.com (acquired by Travelocity for £577m,[10] Last.fm (acquired by CBS for $280 million,[11] Dopplr (acquired by Nokia),[12] LoveFilm (acquired by Amazon for $317 million),[13] Sit Up TV (acquired by Virgin Media), SlideShare (acquired by Linkedin for $119 million),[14] Fizzback (acquired by Nice Systems for $80 million),[15] Mashery (acquired by Intel for $180 million),[16] TweetDeck (acquired by Twitter for $40 million – $50 million),[17] and Twitterfeed (acquired by Bitly).[18] Klein is involved with OpenCoffee Club, a group his son Saul Klein started in 2007 to facilitate gatherings and networking among entrepreneurs, developers and investors[19] and is an advisor to Seedcamp which he helped to launch in 2007.[20] Klein is currently chairman of the board at moo.com, an online printing company; MyBuilder, an online marketplace bringing together consumers, builders and tradesmen;[21] and Wonga, a digital finance company, named the number one company in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100.[22] Klein is also a board member of EDITD, Farfetch, FreeAgent, Onefinestay, Skimlinks, and Zoopla,[23] an investor and board observer at TransferWise, and a non-executive director at Moneysupermarket.com (LSE: MONY),[22] and an investor in other companies.
From 2007–2010 Klein spent a day a week as venture partner at Atlas Venture, an early-stage technology and life sciences venture capital firm.[7]
Philanthropy and non-profit involvement
[edit]Klein was chairman of Great Ormond Street Hospital Promotions Ltd, the funding company for Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children's hospital in London,[24] and was formerly on the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Community Centre for London which developed the JW3 community centre.[25]
References
[edit]- ^ "Getty Images bought by private equity firm Carlyle Group for £2.1bn". The Jewish Chronicle Online. 15 August 2012.
- ^ "Robin Matthew KLEIN - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
- ^ "Index Ventures creates seed fund with Kleins at the helm". TechCrunch. 25 April 2010.
- ^ "BusinessWeek Executive profile: Robin Klein". Archived from the original on 7 August 2013.
- ^ "Robin Klein's blog".
- ^ "The investors' view: Robin Klein". Growing Business. 15 January 2010. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012.
- ^ a b "Robin Klein allies with Index Ventures in next Venture Partner role". BusinessInsider. 26 April 2010.
- ^ "Index Seed: Giving Europe's Early-Stage Investments a Much Needed Boost". readwrite. 26 April 2010.
- ^ "Private equity firm 3i pays £60m for Agent Provocateur?". The Guardian. 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Travelocity buys Lastminute.com for £577m". The Register. 12 May 2010.
- ^ "CBS Acquires Europe's Last.fm for $280 million". TechCrunch. 30 May 2007.
- ^ "Nokia to Acquire UK Startup Dopplr". TechCrunch. 23 September 2009.
- ^ "Amazon Acquires LoveFilm, The Netflix of Europe". 12 May 2010.
- ^ "LinkedIn Acquires Professional Content Sharing Platform SlideShare For $119M". TechCrunch. 3 May 2012.
- ^ "NICE Systems Acquires Fizzback For Approximately $80 Million". TechCrunch. 19 September 2011.
- ^ "Source: Mashery Is Selling To Intel For More Than $180M". TechCrunch. 17 April 2013.
- ^ "Twitter To Buy TweetDeck For $40 Million – $50 Million". 2 May 2011.
- ^ "Burp! Bitly Swallows Twitterfeed". All Things D. 9 April 2011.
- ^ "The OpenCoffee Club Movement". readwrite. 23 May 2007.
- ^ "seedcamp: Seedcamp Week 2011". Archived from the original on 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Board Moves". The Sunday Times. 23 June 2013. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014.
- ^ a b "2011 Tech Track 100". Fast Track, in association with The Sunday Times. January 2010. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012.
- ^ "Index Ventures partner bio".
- ^ "UK Business Angels Association, Speakers". Archived from the original on 14 August 2014.
- ^ "JCC picks three heads". The Jewish Chronicle Online. 11 November 2010.
