Neil Rimer
Neil Rimer | |
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Born | |
Nationality | Swiss |
Alma mater | Stanford University Harvard Business School |
Occupation | Venture capitalist and investor, founder and partner at Index Ventures |
Relatives | Father Gerald, who founded Index Securities, the predecessor to Index Ventures, in 1976. Brothers David, a partner at Index Ventures; Danny, also a partner at Index Ventures; and Richard, formerly a partner at Index Ventures, now at Acorn Energy. |
Neil Rimer is founding partner at Index Ventures, a venture capital firm[1][2][3] that invests in Europe, the United States, and Israel. He is co-chair of the Board of Directors at Human Rights Watch.[4]
Early life and education[]
Rimer was born in Montreal, Quebec, and reared and educated (International School of Geneva) in Geneva, Switzerland. He received a bachelor’s degree in History and Economics from Stanford University, and was a General Course student at the London School of Economics. He then took his first job out of school with Montgomery Securities, an investment bank in San Francisco. He then completed a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School, and upon graduating, chose to return to Europe.[5] He was later quoted by Fortune as reflecting on this move, “I was excited about the idea of participating in the birth of the VC industry in Europe”.[6]
Career[]
Soon after his return to Geneva, in 1991, Rimer helped his father Gerald exit the bond trading business he had founded, and spent a few years connecting institutional investors with European technology startups, an effort that over time evolved into the official launch of Index Ventures.[6] In 1996 Rimer co-founded Index Ventures in Geneva with his brother, David, and Giuseppe Zocco,[7] helping raise Index’ first pilot fund of $17 million, followed by a $180 million fund in 1998.[6] Companies funded during this time include SCM Microsystems (now Identive)[6] and Virata, a chipmaker, which later entered into a $1.3 Billion merger with GlobeSpan.[8] Index started investing in Israeli companies in 2003.[9] As of 2007, Rimer claimed to The Wall Street Journal that "the bulk of our portfolio is in Europe and Israel."[10]
Notable investments by Rimer's company include Betfair (LSE: BET) and Skype (acquired by eBay for $2.6 billion,[11][12] later acquired by Microsoft for $8.5 billion).[13] Index Ventures has invested in 21 Israeli companies, including MyHeritage, Outbrain, Lacoon, Adallom, Wiz, Capitolis, and Gong.io.[14]
Rimer has also invested in and served on the boards of directors of Last.fm (acquired by CBS for $280 million),[15] Ofoto (acquired by Kodak),[16] Trolltech (acquired by Nokia for $153 million),[17] Numerical Technologies (acquired by Synopsis for $250 million);[18] Genmab (Nasdaq Copenhagen: GEN);[7] and .[7] Rimer currently sits on the board of directors of a number of companies including Call9, Funding Circle, HouseTrip, MOO Print, PhotoBox, StackExchange,[7] Supercell,[19] Kaggle,[20] Metromile,[21] and The Climate Corporation (acquired by Monsanto for approximately $1.1 billion).[22]
Rimer headed the team at Index Ventures that led a $130 million funding round in Supercell, the subject of a May 6, 2013 Forbes article, “Is This the Fastest-Growing Game Company Ever?”[19] In October 2013 Softbank and GungHo Online Entertainment acquired 51% of Supercell for $1.53 billion.[23]
Awards[]
Rimer was named the number one venture capitalist in Europe in Forbes' inaugural Midas List Europe 2017.[24] He was also featured on the Forbes Global Midas list in 2018[25] and the 2018 New York Times list of the top venture capitalists worldwide.[26]
Philanthropy and Non-Profit Involvement[]
Rimer is a member of the board of directors of Human Rights Watch (HRW)[27] and is a founder of the Geneva Committee of HRW. He has also served on the European Leadership Council of Harvard Business School and on the board of U.C. Sampdoria, a football club competing in the Italian Serie A professional football league competition.[3]
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Neil Rimer. |
- Index Ventures website
- Neil Rimer on Index Ventures blog
- Neil Rimer on Twitter
- Meet the man behind Europe’s hottest VC firm, in GigaOM (April 13, 2012)
- Neil Rimer Explains Index Ventures’ New Seed Program, in Wall Street Journal: Venture Capital Dispatch (April 26, 2010)
- Europe’s start-up backer — Neil Rimer, founder, Index Ventures, in FT (November 28, 2016)
References[]
- ^ "Two Giant European VCs want founders to give more equity to employees". TechCrunch. 27 November 2017.
- ^ "Staff stock option hurdles hamper European start-ups". FT. November 26, 2017.
- ^ a b "Wall Street Journal Fast Forward: Speakers and Guests".
- ^ "New Chairs to Lead Human Rights Watch Board". Human Rights Watch. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
In 2020, Neil Rimer, a Human Rights Watch board member since 2009, will join her as co-chair
- ^ "In Conversation With Neil Rimer". PICTET Perspectives. May 16, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "25 Rising Stars". Fortune. May 14, 2001. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Levie, Damelin, Rimer, Onur, Klein, Khan To Speak At TechCrunch Disrupt Europe". TechCrunch. July 24, 2013.
- ^ "GlobeSpan, Virata merge in $1.3 billion deal". CNET. October 1, 2001.
- ^ https://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/1.4806651
- ^ Austin, Scott (3 March 2009). "Index Ventures Plows Ahead in Europe". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "MediaGuardian 100 2012". The Guardian. September 16, 2012.
- ^ "EBay Buys Skype for $2.6 Billion". PC World. September 12, 2005.
- ^ "Why Microsoft Is Buying Skype for $8.5 Billion". GigaOM. May 9, 2011.
- ^ "HRW chairman invests in Israel as he calls it 'apartheid'".
- ^ "CBS Acquires Europe's Last.fm for $280 million". TechCrunch. May 30, 2007.
- ^ "Kodak buys Ofoto.com". MarketWatch. April 30, 2001.
- ^ "Nokia Acquires Trolltech For $153 Million". TechCrunch. January 28, 2008.
- ^ "Synopsys to buy Numerical Tech for $250 million". EE Times. January 13, 2003.
- ^ a b "Is This The Fastest-Growing Game Company Ever?". Forbes. May 6, 2013.
- ^ "Index And Khosla Lead $11M Round In Kaggle, A Platform For Data Modeling Competitions". TechCrunch. November 2, 2011.
- ^ "WhoGotFunded: MetroMile".
- ^ "Monsanto Buys Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For Around $1.1B". TechCrunch. October 2, 2013.
- ^ "Supercell Dominates The Realm: Game Maker Sells A 51%, $1.53B Stake To SoftBank and GungHo Online". TechCrunch. October 15, 2013.
- ^ "Forbes Announces First-Ever 2017 Midas List Europe". Forbes. November 6, 2017.
- ^ "The Midas List". Forbes. April 3, 2018.
- ^ "The Top 100 Venture Capitalists". 31 March 2019.
- ^ "Human Rights Watch: Board of Directors". 5 May 2020.
- 1963 births
- Living people
- Anglophone Quebec people
- Canadian venture capitalists
- Businesspeople from Montreal
- Swiss businesspeople
- Stanford University alumni
- Harvard Business School alumni