VC firm Sequoia is flattening its partner structure and closing its London office

Sequoia Capital said it could support European startups from its Bay Area HQ. via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images At Sequoia Capital, London is out, and the Great Flattening is in.The Silicon Valley VC firm said Wednesday it has made internal changes to undo a management hierarchy that had "crept over into the investing team."The shake-up also includes the closure of its London office and sunsetting its batch accelerator and Scouts programs, Sequoia wrote in a Wednesday post on X.The London closure means some employees are leaving Sequoia. The VC firm, which made early-stage bets on companies such as Apple, Google, and Nvidia, said it can support European founders and startups from its Bay Area headquarters.The overhaul marks the ongoing change of the guard at Sequoia. In late 2025, Alfred Lin and Pat Grady took on co-steward roles at the firm, as longtime partner Roelof Botha stepped down. By closing its London office, winding down programs for early founders, and flattening its investing partnership, Sequoia is betting that a leaner structure will help it double down on concentrated, founder-led decision-making.In its post, Sequoia said that a two-decade "expansionary phase" has required "real management" to run operations — but management creep into the partner side of the business had become an "unintended side effect."The VC firm is also dropping its Monday partner meeting cycle, and said that its mission of delivering the best possible returns to limited partners remains the same."We've made several internal changes that have the effect of flattening the partnership,' the investment firm said. "This allows every partner to flourish, and every founder to receive the full benefit of Team Sequoia - regardless of who your lead partner happens to be.Sequoia joins a long list of companies including Meta, Amazon, Google, and Intel that have flattened management layers in recent years. Companies have typically cited a desire to reduce bureaucracy. In other cases, companies have cited AI when cutting back on managers and flattening structures, including Coinbase and GitLab.There have been course corrections. Earlier this year, Business Insider reported that Meta asked some employees in its Applied AI division to become managers again. Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Robert Scammell is a senior editor working at Business Insider's London bureau, overseeing the tech team's coverage of companies such as Google, OpenAI, SpaceX, and Meta.He is also the editor of Vibe Mode, Business Insider's weekly newsletter on all things AI coding. Before joining Business Insider, Robert was the editor of the tech publication UKTN. VC Venture Capital AI More