Thread by @kingtutspacs

🚨 $VYGG/VY Global Growth: A star-studded SPAC with global focus and outreach in Europe & Asia.

- $500m raised
- Led by Alexander Tamas (VY Capital)
- Team of seasoned international Silicon Valley entrepreneurs
- Targeting tech/internet businesses

Time for a thread 🧵⬇️

VY Capital is a VC firm founded by Alexander Tamas.

Tamas was a partner at Digital Sky Tech (DST) Global, Yuri Milner's (Mail.Ru) Russian VC firm.

vccircle.com/all-you-wanted… $VYGG

In 2011, @pmarca & @bhorowitz said this about Tamas:

"He is a walking encyclopedia of Internet business models and strategies. He's on speed-dial for everyone trying to build the most successful, highest-scale, global Internet companies today."

forbes.com/pictures/lmm45… $VYGG

Tamas started at a London-based tech investment firm called Arma Partners (2002-2006).

Afterwards, Tamas joined Goldman Sachs London as co-head of internet/software coverage.

armapartners.com $VYGG

Tasmas joined DST in 2008 & was responsible for the international growth of the firm.

Tamas led some of the most major tech investments of that time, including Facebook, Airbnb, Spotify, Twitter, JD.com, Alibaba, Xiaomi & Zalando.

allthingsd.com/20090526/da-fa… $VYGG

archive.fortune.com/2009/05/26/tec… $VYGG

"The day the Facebook purchase was announced, Yuri's colleague Tamas quietly approached Zynga founder Mark Pincus at a tech conference. A few months later DST Global led a $180 million venture round in the maker of FarmVille and Mafia Wars."

forbes.com/forbes/2011/03… $VYGG

In 2013, Tamas left DST Global to set up his own VC firm: Vy Capital.

Vy Capital in 2013 is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with another office in San Francisco.

vycapital.com $VYGG

About Vy Capital?

Vy Capital is a global tech investment firm with more than $2bn in assets under management with a focus on concentrated investments in category-defining technology companies with the potential to meaningfully impact humanity.

golden.com/wiki/Vy_Capital $VYGG

Vy Capital's investment has ranged from USA, to Europe, to Asia, to even Africa!

In 2017, Vy led a $200m fundraising round for Reddit at a $1.8bn valuation, making them Reddit's biggest backers.

vox.com/2017/7/31/1603… $VYGG

Last week (Feb 8), Vy Capital led another $250m late-stage round funding for Reddit, now at a $6bn valuation.

wsj.com/articles/reddi… $VYGG

In July 2019, Vy Capital led a $120m funding round of Elon Musk's tunnel-digging project, The Boring Company.

theverge.com/2019/7/25/8930… $VYGG

Vy Capital is one of @zomato's biggest backers.

Zomato is an Indian-based food delivery giant available in 25 countries and in more than 10,000 cities (think Door Dash).

Sep 2015: economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/star…

Jan 2021: businesstoday.in/current/corpor… $VYGG

Zomato is now valued between $6-8bn and are planning to go public this year 👀

inc42.com/buzz/zomato-in… $VYGG

Vy Capital led the fundraising for Coalition Inc., the first technology-enabled cyber insurance solution, founded by John Hering.

The same John Hering that is the CEO of $VYGG.

coalitioninc.com/announcements/…

Vy Capital is the biggest backer of India-based on demand home services marketplace @urbancompany_UC

Think @Handy or @TaskRabbit but on steroids.

economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/star… $VYGG

Rigetti Computing, a leading quantum computing start-up, Raises $64 Million in Series A and B Funding, Led by Andreessen Horowitz and Vy Capital

prnewswire.com/news-releases/… $VYGG

.@tizeti, Nigeria based broadband internet startup, closed a $2.1m seed funding.

Backers included investors Western Technology Investment, Social Capital, Vy Capital, Picus Capital, Ace & Company, Lynett Capital Partners, Zeno Ventures.

finsmes.com/2017/06/tizeti… $VYGG

OfferUp, the leading mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers in the U.S., announced today that it has secured $119 million in Series C-1 financing (Vy Capital participated).

vcnewsdaily.com/access/getarti… $VYGG

Other portfolio companies for $VYGG Vy Capital:

- Harbor (blockchain)
- Aella Credit (Nigerian Fintech)
- Acre Designs (Zero-energy homes)
- WiFi NG (Internet access in Nigeria)
- Outpatient (Elderly care)
- Kouadai Shopping (Chinese mobile shopping)

$VYGG Team: John Hering (CEO)

- Co-founder of two cyber security companies @Lookout and Coalition
- Fast Company 2013 Most Creative People
- Fortune 2012 40 under 40

fastcompany.com/person/john-he…

$VYGG Team: @hbarra (Board)

Hugo Barra is a Brazilian computer scientist, technology executive and entrepreneur. He served in a number of product management roles at Google in London and California, including Vice President and product spokesman of Google's Android division.

$VYGG Team: Julie Hereden (Board)

- Current CMO of @pagerduty
- Ex-Uber, Dropbox, Lookout, Shutterfly, Netscape, and Apple

$VYGG Team: Steve Hoffman (Board)

- Co-founder and CEO of Reddit
- Fortune Magazine 2020 40 under 40

$VYGG Team: Javier Olivan (Board)

- VP of Products at Facebook
- Ex-board Director at @Mercadolibre, South America's biggest online marketplace

$VYGG Team: Justin Kan (Board)

American internet entrepreneur and investor who co-founded the law-tech company Atrium where he served as CEO. He is the co-founder of live video platform Twitch, as well as the mobile social video application Socialcam.

$VYGG Team: Sujay Jaswa (Board)

Sujay is one of Silicon Valley’s leading business innovators. Prior to co-founding WndrCo, he was the Business Founder and CFO of Dropbox from 2010 to 2015.

$VYGG Team: Vamsi Duvvuri (Managing Director)

- Head of Vy Capital’s emerging market investments
- Board observer at top growth-stage companies including Zomato, Upgrade and Urban Company

$VYGG Team: Pablo Mendoza (Vice President)

Mendoza worked at Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division where he executed multiple cross-border M&A transactions.

$VYGG Team: Moore Capital Management (Co-Sponsor)

New York-based, global investment management firm headquartered in New York, New York. In September 2018, MCM had $10.2 billion in total assets under management.

ft.com/content/c1ef73…

Disclaimer: Nothing contained in this thread should be construed as investment advice. Any reference to an investment's past or potential performance is not, and should not be construed as, a recommendation or as a guarantee of any specific profit $VYGG

@atamas & @johnhering 🤓