Highland Europe hires former Dropbox and Sapphire VC exec as Head of Platform

• Abhishek Lahoti brings Silicon Valley and European experience in scaling global businesses
• As Head of Platform he will expand Highland’s network of advisors and support founding teams in key areas including senior hiring and business development
• Highland recently announced a €1 billion fund to continue backing exceptional, European-founded software and internet businesses

London, 23 May 2023:

Highland Europe, the growth investor that has backed companies including ContentSquare, Featurespace and GetYourGuide is establishing a Platform function that will support its outstanding founder-led teams as they grow internationally. Abhishek Lahoti, who has over 15 years of operational experience in the US and Europe, will lead the new function as Head of Platform at the London and Geneva-based fund.

Highland Europe wants to ensure founding teams have access to world-class support, expertise and resources as they build category-defining businesses. In setting up the Platform function, Abhishek will create a network of C-suite advisors to Highland companies who will assist founders with key areas including hiring, business development, marketing and scaling.

Abhishek spent his time in San Francisco focused on scaling businesses with Enterprise clients before moving to Europe in 2017 to lead Business Development in the region for Dropbox, having been excited by the fast-emerging European tech sector. The Northwestern University graduate then joined US firm Sapphire Ventures as VP of Business Development & Head of the International Centre of Excellence.

Stan Laurent, partner at Highland Europe, said: “ I’m excited to welcome Abhishek to the Highland Europe team to turbo-charge the work we’ve always done to help our companies scale. We want our Founders to have talent, experience and connections at their fingertips, and our advisors to feel that they can add significant value supporting some of the most promising start-ups in Europe as they go global.”

Abhishek Lahoti said: “I’m excited to be setting up Highland Europe’s Platform function and working closely with the brilliant and talented founding teams in our portfolio. Right now, Europe continues to push the frontiers of tech development and I look forward to helping Highland Europe’s portfolio companies to scale their businesses and enter new markets.”