Two Sigma Quant Firm to Expand Footprint to Bay Area

(Bloomberg) -- Quantitative investing giant Two Sigma is looking westward.

The $60 billion firm plans to open a San Francisco Bay Area office for its venture capital unit in the coming months, according to Two Sigma Ventures founder and partner Colin Beirne. The decision comes with the hiring of Villi Iltchev from Silicon Valley venture firm August Capital as partner, Beirne said in an interview.

Iltchev, 43, who spent three years at August Capital and has expertise in enterprise software, started at Two Sigma’s New York headquarters this week and will be based in San Francisco when the new office opens. Prior to August Capital, where he invested in companies including GitLab Inc. and HiHello Inc., Iltchev oversaw strategy at file-storage company Box Inc. and identity-protection company LifeLock Inc. He spent four years in corporate development at Salesforce.com Inc.

“Adding Villi to the team gives us a boots-on-the-ground presence in the Bay Area for the first time, which will obviously help us be more effective there,” Beirne said.

Two Sigma Ventures invests in companies focused on data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced hardware. The unit has operated out of New York, backing more than 70 early-stage companies, writing checks between $5 million and $10 million, Beirne said.

Over the years, it’s leveraged the internal network at Two Sigma -- which has 1,600 employees -- to help find opportunities or provide support to portfolio companies. More than a third of the companies the venture unit has invested in were originally referred by a Two Sigma colleague.

With the addition of Iltchev, Two Sigma Ventures has 18 employees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katia Porzecanski in New York at kporzecansk1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Mirabella at amirabella@bloomberg.net, Josh Friedman, Dan Reichl

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