Independent rating of Accel VC fund
Overall rating:
4.3
(21)
About Accel VC fund
Website:
Founded:
1983
Number of funds:
33
Number of investments:
1720
Number of exits:
340
Headquarters:
Organization type:
Venture Capital
How Accel VC fund invests
Rounds:
Average ticket size:
28.9M USD
Biggest investment:
136M USD
Would lead round:
Yes
Would coinvest:
Yes
Countries where invested:
Sectors of interest:
FinTech, Software, Internet, Information Technology, Financial Services, E-Commerce, AgTech, Therapeutics, Supply Chain Management, Sales, Rental, Network Security, Mobile Payments, Marketplace, Marketing, Insurance, InsurTech, Furniture, Enterprise Software, Employee Benefits, Cyber Security, Cloud Security, Biotechnology, Banking, B2B, Apps, Agriculture
Founders' reviews of Accel VC fund
Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
Round: Pre-Seed
Nice to be a Approached
Reached out to us and got back to us fast with positive feedback - it's just that we're too early for them.
Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
Round: Series A
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Get Over Your Self
Spoke with Varun. Seemed like he hadn't read any of our deck or done any preparation in advance... came across as quite arrogant & got the sense he thought 'we were lucky to be speaking to a fund like them'. Took more than a month to get an answer & any feedback.
Older than a year by portfolio founder
Round: Series C
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Surpassing Simple Business Partners
Sonali De Rycker and Luca Bocchio from Accel are incredible board members and value driving sparring partners. Both are extremely responsive and always available. It is not only fun working with them but also a great learning opportunity for me as first time founder.
Not reviewed
Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Professorial, Diligent and Smart Team
We Pitched to Adam and Accell late in the process of C round.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Rich Wong
Have had a terrific set of meetings with Rich Wong at Accel. He was engaged, thoughtful, and very straightforward. Moreover, after a substantive meeting, Rich leveraged his rolodex to get us key meetings with industry players that we needed to reach.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Great Experience with Miles Clements
Accel's Miles Clements took the time out from a hectic day to chat to us about our new venture. It was not in the Accel investment space but he was able to give his opinion on what may improve our business plan. This guy is sharp and if you get the opportunity to meet Miles you will get great value & insights for funding.
Not reviewed
Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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If You're Not Facebook..
I gagged with how many times the partners referred to Facebook and how Accel is responsible for their success. I have serious respect for the old guard at Accel, their reputation cannot be ignored. But the rookies here leave a lot to be desired. They offered little in the way of strategic insight, operational expertise but took a lot of credit for their entrepreneurs accomplishments and professed a lot of knowledge they didnt actually have.
Not reviewed
Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Reasonable Meeting, but Quite Arrogant
On the positive: showed up on time, listened to the pitch, paid attention without Blackberry-distractions. That honestly does count for something
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Avid Larizadeh: Very Supportive but Not Interested in Seed
Before we were even ready to raise any funding we approached Accel in London and specifically identified Avid Larizadeh because of her experience at eBay.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Excitement with One Dne Excitement with All
I just had to post this. When we raised our first round, Accel took a look and I got some great focused feedback from Kevin Efrusy. We contacted him when looking at our next round, and he eagerly introduced us to Commoli. Commoli's assistant told us six weeks out is the first time he could meet. I guess times are good over there. ;-)
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Unable to Understand Customer's Business Needs
Overall, they were good and spent a fair amount of time. But they couldnt transcend the prevailing shallow "IT" and application orientation of enterprise software to a business context or purpose oriented one.
"What space are you in...""There isn't one. This is an emerging area - something that allows storage, organization, communications, and access through search in a unified way. For emails - data, and documents! It is the future!.
"No - it cant be; you've got to decide are you in emails" or Document management" or data management"" But we are all of that and process automation...
"No, that is a different space ...."
Anyway, thats how the conversation went for about 4 or 5 sessions and then we got the no-phone call no-email brush off. I wonder how new ideas can florish if they must fit into a specific shoe box in a pigeon holed cupboard.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Great Pitch Experience.
We pitched Kevin Efrusy on taking a round and he provided excellent advice ...
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Positive Experience with Accel London
We pitched with one of my German clients (Web 2.0 business) to Accel Partners in London.
While Heikki Makijarvi (Venture Development at Accel London) has a difficult to pronounce Finn name (you better practice before you meet him ;-) is he a very smart and nice guy. Heikki has quickly setup a productive meeting with Kevin Comolli (Managing General Partner at Accel) a very experienced VC. Heikki and Kevin assessed the opportunity and drilled deeper into the subject. Even while they finally decided to not invest, gave they us some hints of how to better bring our message across and informed us honestly about their decision logic.
Not reviewed
Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Good Pitch Experience with Simon Levene
Simon was very engaged, agreeing to meet on a number of occasions. He is very attentive, listens carefully and lets you finish, before bringing up his concerns and views. Very open and honest, overall, a very nice experience, would definitely pitch again.
Not reviewed
Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Uk Practice Not on Par with Us
I have met Accell on both sides of the pond and there is a clear divide -- with the UK on the losing end (soft ethics).
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Engaging but a Bit Odd
We had a very good conversation with them - thoughful and observant. But then they vanished - simply never responded to calls or emails. I've presented to many firms, both large and small- and found that at the very least you get a pass. But radio silence is a first. Not sure what to make of it. Tried to contact them a few times - but never did get a call back. Weird.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Accel Uk
We got a quick response once we'd emailed our business plan. Invited us in for a quick chat. They passed. If you're in the UK and working on 2.0 project then pitch them...they don't do seed.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Speedy Response
An initial query got a request for more info within a couple of days. Very straightforward and businesslike.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Good Pitch Experience
I've pitched Accel a couple of times, and each time was a good experience. They dug into the numbers, shared concerns, and gave a clear go/no go answer within two weeks. That's pretty rare.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Good Pitch Experience with Great Follow Through
Late on a friday afternoon, pitched to an associate with a razor sharp intellect. Often we have to clarify some aspects, since we're operating in a unexplored space. This guy got it immediately and even called his wife to postpone dinner plans to continue speaking with us well into the evening. Communications continue as we develop. He continues to support or efforts as we progress from R&D into tech beta.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Kevin Efrusy
Aggressive guy. Will get a deal closed quickly. But be careful - can be childish.
He's pretty inexperienced so take what he says with a grain of salt. Get ready for a lot of examples from facebook etc.