Former Meta president and deputy UK Prime Minister, Sir Nick Clegg, has joined Hiro Capital as a general partner as it launches Hiro III, a “UK/Europe-focused multi-stage VC, focused on spatial AI, robotics, longevity, games, and space and defence.”
In a press statement, the company described Hiro III as a “large, multi-stage fund” able to deploy from $5.8m to $58.7m (€5-€50m), and will target the “scale-up capital gap in the UK and Europe.”
Hiro Capital co-founder and Games Workshop co-founder, Sir Ian Livingstone CBE, welcomed Clegg on LinkedIn, writing: “Delighted to share the exciting news that Nick Clegg former Deputy Prime Minister and President of Global Affairs at Meta has joined us at Hiro Capital as a General Partner to launch our third scale-up VC fund.”
“I joined Hiro because I share with the founders a belief in the rise of immersive computing and Spatial AI,” Clegg said. “We will move from staring at the internet, to living in the internet. We are right in the early stages of that platform shift with the convergence of spatial technologies and next generation world model AIs. Unlike other funds, Hiro is wholly focused on those themes, entirely within Europe.
“This is an amazing moment of opportunity for the UK/Europe’s tech ecosystem. We have some of the most outstanding researchers and universities on the planet, and great engineers and entrepreneurs too. Our problem is not a lack of innovation, it is a lack of capital at scale. Europe may have its critics, but we have a vibrant start-up scene which is now ready to accelerate – I believe the Hiro team has the unique geographic and technological reach to help make that happen.”
The team has also expanded its advisory board, adding a number of high-profile appointments, including Professor Yann LeCun, former chief scientist of Meta and Turing prize winner for deep learning AI, Malcolm Turnbull, former PM of Australia and a leading tech investor, and Major Tim Peake, scientist, test pilot, and the first British ESA astronaut.
