Index Ventures Appoints Saul Klein as Venture Partner

London, Geneva and Jersey, UK (PRWEB) February 14, 2007

Index Ventures today announced that serial entrepreneur Saul Klein joins the firm as venture partner. Klein will be based in Index's London office, working closely with existing Index portfolio companies and seeking out new investment opportunities globally. The firm also announced the close of its fourth fund, fund IV, which is a €350M fund that will focus on early-stage investments in information technology, life sciences and green tech.

"We are extremely privileged to have Saul on board, with his global knowledge and deep experience as a serial entrepreneur and seed investor," said Index Ventures general partner, Danny Rimer. "Saul is highly regarded in the tech community as a senior marketer and we believe that his experience is hugely complementary to the needs of our current and future portfolio companies."

Klein brings to Index 15 years of entrepreneurial, marketing and media experience. Most recently he served as the global vice president of marketing and e-commerce for Skype (recently purchased by eBay), where he is currently still advising the company on strategic projects. Prior to Skype, Klein co-founded and served as CEO for Video Island, an Index-funded venture that recently merged with LoveFilm to become Europe's leading online DVD rental and movie download service. LoveFilm enjoys 23% marketshare of all DVD rentals in the UK and is one of the top three entertainment sites in Europe. Saul was also a founding partner of The Accelerator Group, where he was an active seed investor in both US and European start-ups including Moo.com, SpotRunner, Edgeio, Daylife, Stardoll and Last.fm.

"Becoming part of the investing team at Index Ventures feels like a natural next step for me. I've been working side-by-side with the team as an entrepreneur, executive and co-investor for years," said Klein. "I've watched the general partners help grow some of the most prominent US and European start-ups into market leaders and believe that their mix of entrepreneurial skills and networks makes the team one of the best in the industry."

Klein also held management positions at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond within the Web Platform Services Group; served as the senior vice president for Firefly Network (acquired by Microsoft), and was director of digital communication at WPP's Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. Klein currently serves on the board of directors of bridges.org, an international non-profit which works to promote the effective use of information and communications technology in developing countries and he was a founding member of privacy seal, TRUSTe. He is a founding patron of Imperial Entrepreneurs, which is helping potential student entrepreneurs at Imperial College reach out to London's established start-up and venture community to kick start opportunities. He was recently named as the winner of the marketing and communications category of the 2006 World Technology Awards in San Francisco.

About Index Ventures

Index Ventures has been active in technology venture investing since 1996. The firm is dedicated to helping great entrepreneurial teams in the life science and information technology sectors build their companies into market-defining global leaders. The firm has offices in Geneva, London and Jersey, UK. Landmark investments include Genmab, one of the largest antibody companies in the world, Betfair, the world's largest betting exchange and Skype, recently sold to eBay. For more information visit http://www.indexventures.com.

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