Stride.VC, the London early-stage VC firm founded by Fred Destin and podcaster Harry Stebbings, is losing Paris-based partner, Pia d’Iribarne, TechCrunch has learned.
According to a regulatory filing, d’Iribarne’s partnership officially ended today, a little more than a year and a half after her appointment as Stride’s third investment partner was announced.
Contacted by TechCrunch, both d’Iribarne and Stride have confirmed her departure, but declined to comment further, including what she’s up to next. I understand, however, that d’Iribarne will retain her board seats on Stride portfolio companies Strapi, impala and jow.
For the time being, d’Iribarne’s next destination remains unconfirmed, although sources tell me she may be in the early of stages of putting together a venture fund of her own. She has spoken in the past of her “entrepreneurial” ambitions — then in relation to leaving Accel to join newly-launched Stride — so I wouldn’t be surprised were this to happen. As always, watch this space.
Meanwhile, d’Iribarne isn’t the only member of Stride’s team to leave since the firm’s launch in late 2018. Operating partner Arj Soysa left after just over a year and is now a finance director at Mubadala Capital in Europe.
Separately, founding partner Harry Stebbings recently unveiled that alongside Stride he is now operating an $8.3 million micro VC fund of his own. Called 20VC — named after his “The Twenty Minute VC” podcast — the plan is to invest in U.S. startups across various stages alongside “tier 1” co-investors.
