Private Equity Professionals

DFJ Esprit hires portfolio company COO

Serial entrepreneur William Reeve has been made a venture partner at the London-based DFJ affiliate, most recently having steered operations for DFJ Espirit-backed portfolio company LOVEFiLM International.

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William Reeve has joined European venture firm DFJ Esprit as a venture partner.

Reeve was previously chief operating officer of LOVEFiLM International, an online film rental company that in 2006 merged with DFJ Esprit-backed ScreenSelect.co.uk, which Reeve founded in 2003.

William Reeve

Characterised as a “serial entrepreneur”, DFJ Esprit said in a statement that Reeve has 11 years of experience as an internet entrepreneur and “is a serial investor in the UK high-growth scene”, with active involvement in companies including Graze.com, a healthy food home delivery start-up, and real estate valuation site Zoopla.com.

DFJ Esprit was formed in August 2007 when veteran US venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson bought a strategic stake in London-based Esprit Capital Partners, adding it to its 30-city global affiliate network.

In February, the firm made a return of five times its investment on the sale of e-commerce website buy.at to AOL.