Fergal Mullen

The Highland Europe story and my story are one and the same, for the past twenty years anyhow.  Although I began my career as an IT consultant with Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) and enjoyed a genuine home-run entrepreneurial experience during the decade after college, the idea of investing in technology companies always intrigued me.  I recall hearing the expression Venture Capital at Brown University, most likely in Engineering 9 or 90 introductory business studies classes with the one and only Professor Barrett Hazeltine, who provided life-long inspiration.  In my senior year, I interviewed with Providence Equity Partners having no clue what PE was all about, and certainly no idea of the radio-station business which, if memory serves correctly, was a core investment strategy of that firm in 1989.

With that mind-set, I departed in 1993 for Harvard Business School to hone my finance skills and begin the process of navigating towards Venture Capital.  I failed to capture the attention of VCs, with GA declining me for summer work in 1994.  That was more than fortunate as Morgan Stanley not only delivered a wonderful summer experience but also brought me in touch with my one and only darling wife, Janey Kent.

One of my first investments was in VistaPrint and it was undoubtedly this successful and rewarding experience that shaped our current investment strategy.  Although Highland Capital Partners was strictly early-stage focused at that time, as new kind on the block, I managed to navigate this Series B, growth-stage, $50M investment, through to completion and resolved from that moment that my personal investment strategy would be Europe, Tech, and Growth focused.  To this day, that has not changed.

Indeed, VistaPrint, Photobox and ultimately Privalia were investments that had a formative impact on the strategy and shape of Highland Europe.  While VistaPrint defined our investment strategy, it was through Photobox and Privalia that the team took shape.  Events conspired in the context of the PhotoBox investment bringing my former HBS classmate Stan Laurent and I together for nearly a decade of collaboration before selling very well to PE.  Stan ultimately joined Highland Europe – an idea of my Partners – but one I enthusiastically supported.    It was Photobox that brought me back to Europe so often for board meetings and therefore brought me in touch with Laurence at a conference in 2006, but more on that later.

We now had the core of a founding team for a new fund and the three musketeers, Irena, Laurence and Fergal, set off to raise Fund I.  It was during that period that Sam expressed interest in joining.  So then we were four, and eventually five with Tony coming on board.  That was the shape of the partnership for Fund I and late into Fund II when Stan joined.  Laurence brought the idea of wrapping our arms around Gaj and Jean, our close friends at a market leading tech investment bank called Qatalyst.  Both were recently announced as Partners of Highland Europe.  Our CFO, Ronan Shally who kept us on the rails since 2014 when he joined the team, was also prompted to Partner at the same time.

I’m not shy about expressing pride in what we have built here at Highland Europe.  We have forged an equal-partnership that is ridiculously positive and collaborative in working with founders.  Our ethos will always remain focused on helping founders achieve their full potential.  Our firm culture is equitable and inclusive and promotes and cherishes diversity in all its forms.  Highland Europe’s core values are:  team orientation, equality, integrity, reliability, humility, respect, optimism, enthusiasm, focus and commitment.  If you are a company founder or an aspiring young investor and you instinctively appreciate and relate to these values, then please come chat with us.

Our strategy is laser-focused on backing high-growth software and internet enabled companies that have achieved sufficient scale to confirm the validity of their business model and unit economics.    We cherish capital efficiency and applaud founders who are disciplined in their stewardship of that capital. We remain growth obsessed as a value driver and therefore focus on scaling team and organization to meet growth challenges as they arise.  We always support founders through the inevitable ups and downs of company building.  Our approach is mentorship oriented and we strive to lead by example at board level.  For this reason, founders look to us first as trusted advisors, second as shareholders, and often as friends. In evaluating a team, our scorecard prioritizes excellent interpersonal relationships because we know that constructive, positive, collaborative partnership always delivers a better outcome.

This is who we are and what we are all about at Highland Europe.  If you like our story, come join us on this journey whether you are a technology company founder or an aspiring investor.  We want to hear your story.