Coatue by Philippe Laffont plans to open an office in Europe

LONDON – U.S. hedge fund Coatue Management plans to open a new office in Europe as part of an effort to capitalize on the continent’s growing tech industry.

The news was first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed to CNBC by a spokesperson for Coatue.

“We currently have offices in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong, and we are excited to add an office in Europe in the near future,” Coatue Ventures president Dan Rose told CNBC.

“We believe that Europe is emerging as an important hub of innovation in public and private markets, as evidenced by the increase in venture capital activity across the continent,” said Rose, who was previously an executive at Facebook and Amazon.

The New York-based company is one of the world’s largest tech investors and has pumped billions of dollars into fast-growing companies that it says will get even bigger.

Notable investments by the company – founded in 1999 by Philippe Laffont and Thomas Laffont – include parent company TikTok ByteDance, Snap and Spotify.

A source in the venture capital industry told CNBC that Coatue is struggling to find the right people to hire in Europe, adding that the office will likely be in London.

“There is a huge talent shortage,” the person said, requesting to remain anonymous due to the nature of the discussion. Coatue declined to comment on the claim.

Coatue’s anticipated arrival in Europe comes less than a year after renowned Silicon Valley venture capitalist Sequoia opened a new office in London.

Several other large U.S. tech investment firms are also looking to hire people on the ground in Europe, the source CNBC said.