Neil Rimer

Neil Rimer is a Swiss-Canadian venture capitalist who co-founded Index Ventures in 1996, building it into one of Europe's most prominent and successful global venture capital firms. Born in Montreal, Quebec, and raised and educated in Geneva, Switzerland, Rimer earned a bachelor's degree in History and Economics from Stanford University, studied as a General Course student at the London School of Economics, and completed his MBA at Harvard Business School. He began his career at Montgomery Securities, an investment bank in San Francisco, before returning to Europe.

In 1991, Rimer helped his father Gerald exit the bond trading business he had founded. He then spent several years connecting institutional investors with European technology startups, an effort that evolved into the official launch of Index Ventures in Geneva in 1996 alongside his brother David and partner Giuseppe Zocco. They raised an initial pilot fund of $17 million, followed by a $180 million fund in 1998. Neil's vision was to bring Silicon Valley-style investing to Europe at a time when "venture capital" was still a nascent concept outside the United States. His brother Danny Rimer later joined the firm and opened its London and San Francisco offices. Neil served as an active Partner for more than 25 years before stepping down in 2021.

Beyond investing, Rimer is deeply committed to philanthropy and human rights. He served as Co-Chair of the board of directors at Human Rights Watch from 2019 to 2025, having been a board member since 2009. He has stated that "supporting Human Rights Watch for the past 20 years has been my antidote to indifference" and is particularly concerned about the human rights implications of AI and big data. In January 2022, the Rimer family donated $13 million to McGill University for the modernization of the Leacock building and the establishment of the Institute for Indigenous Research and Knowledges.

Neil Rimer's investment approach centers on backing ambitious, purpose-driven founders who are building category-defining companies. He was an early proponent of the idea that world-class technology companies could be built outside of Silicon Valley, and he focused on nurturing the European and Israeli tech ecosystems at a time when few venture capitalists were doing so. His investments span a broad range of sectors including:

Rimer is known for investing at the seed and early stages and maintaining conviction through growth, often serving on portfolio company boards for many years.

• Fintech: Revolut, Funding Circle (IPO 2018), Adyen, and others that positioned Index as a leading fintech investor
• Gaming & Entertainment: Supercell (led a $130M round in 2013), Roblox (IPO 2021), Betfair/Flutter
• Enterprise Software & SaaS: Nexthink, Trello, Typeform, Stack Overflow (acquired 2021)
• Biotech & Health: Genmab, Climate Corporation
• Consumer Internet & Marketplace: Last.fm (acquired by CBS), Ofoto (acquired by Kodak)
• Geographic Focus: Europe, Israel, and the United States — Index has invested in 21+ Israeli companies including Wiz, Outbrain, and Gong.io

| Company | Sector | Outcome | |---------|--------|---------| | Roblox | Gaming | IPO 2021 (NYSE) | | Revolut | Fintech | Major fintech unicorn | | Supercell | Mobile Gaming | Led $130M round; acquired by SoftBank/Tencent | | Nexthink | Enterprise IT | Acquired by Vista Equity Partners at ~$3B (2025) | | Funding Circle | Fintech | IPO 2018 (LSE) | | Stack Overflow | Developer Tools | Acquired by Prosus for $1.8B (2021) | | Betfair (Flutter) | Betting/Entertainment | IPO; now Flutter Entertainment | | Genmab | Biotech | Public (Nasdaq) | | Trello | Productivity | Acquired by Atlassian | | Typeform | SaaS | Growth-stage | | Climate Corporation | AgTech | Acquired by Monsanto for ~$1.1B | | Last.fm | Music/Consumer | Acquired by CBS for $280M | | Trolltech | Software | Acquired by Nokia for $153M | | Numerical Technologies | EDA | Acquired by Synopsys for $250M | | Ofoto | Consumer Photo | Acquired by Kodak | | StepStone | Online Recruitment | Major European platform |