(Bloomberg) — Ore Adeyemi, a top dealmaker in HSBC Holdings Plc’s corporate venture capital arm, is leaving to start his own investment firm with two others from the bank, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Adeyemi has been at the bank about 16 years, most recently as managing director and global head of strategic innovation investments based in the San Francisco area. He’s planning to launch a venture capital fund with Tom Bussey, an investment director in the HSBC venture capital group, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Thomas Caine, an investment manager at HSBC, will also be joining the new fund, the people said.
A representative for HSBC couldn’t immediately comment. Adeyemi, Bussey and Caine didn’t reply to messages on LinkedIn seeking comment.
HSBC’s corporate venture capital arm places bets on financial technology firms and other companies that could bring strategic benefits to the London-based bank. It has previously invested in cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., which is now listed in New York with a $34 billion market value, and data-analytics firm Platfora, which was bought by Workday Inc. in 2016.
The lender’s portfolio also includes anti-money laundering system Silent Eight, authentication software maker Callsign, ESG data provider MioTech and payment platform developer Episode Six, according to its website.
Adeyemi, who grew up in Nigeria, completed his undergraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later returned to earn an MBA at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
He worked as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton earlier in his career and joined HSBC in 2006 as a mergers and acquisitions banker, his LinkedIn profile shows. Adeyemi later moved to do private equity deals for the lender’s principal investments unit before eventually moving up the ranks of its venture capital arm, first in London and then the US.
Other banking industry veterans have also jumped into the world of startup investing. Former star research analyst Mary Meeker, known for her predictions on internet trends, left Morgan Stanley in 2010 to join Kleiner Perkins and later started her own venture capital firm.
Adeyemi’s departure comes as global banks struggle to retain some of their top-ranking Black executives. Bloomberg News reported in April that Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s youngest Black partner, Darren Dixon, is leaving his role as head of global capital solutions to start his own infrastructure-focused fund.
The HSBC alumni will be courting investors at a turning point in the world of startup investment. Technology stocks have been getting pummeled, hurting prospects for profitable exits and making institutions wary of committing too much capital to the sector.
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