Welcoming Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas, Our Newest Partner

As we embark on what we believe will be one of the most consequential decades in technology, during which we will see entrepreneurs transform the way we live and work, we are thrilled to welcome our newest partner Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas. Carlos, a Spanish native and London resident, is one of Europe's leading entrepreneurs, operators and angel investors.

Carlos trained as a technologist but found his true calling as an operator. "Once I became a founder, I realized that I am much better suited for building and scaling businesses than being an engineer." In 2008, Carlos founded Fogg, a travel business which he sold to Skyscanner five years later. He became Skyscanner's Chief Product Officer and helped to drive its five-fold growth, international expansion and product offering.

"At the end of the day, people are your most important asset. Increasingly, I've seen my role as building teams, hiring great people and creating an environment in which everyone can succeed."

Most recently, Carlos was the COO, and before that CPO and CTO, of UK-based fintech, GoCardless. Working alongside the founder Hiroki Takeuchi, he helped take an early-stage, direct-debit business and turn it into a 400-person scale-up, expanding its international footprint and product offering. The team at GoCardless, also praise Carlos’ contribution to building an inclusive culture of excellence. "At the end of the day, people are your most important asset,” Carlos said. “Increasingly, I've seen my role as building teams, hiring great people and creating an environment in which everyone can succeed."

Carlos’ technology roots give him a strategic edge. "Having an engineering background and knowing what it takes to build products from scratch and get them to market has made me a better executive, and will hopefully also make me a better investor and, most importantly, a better partner to founders," he said.

He is not new to investing, having been a prolific angel investor in more than 50 European companies, including Codat and cargo.one, which have both since raised funding from Index.

"The reason you see him in almost all notable pre-seed European rounds of the last two years, is because every founder wants to have him close. He is an experienced executive with the scars to prove it, who instinctively understands the challenges of scaling and offers clear strategic guidance to execute at speed," commented Index's Jan Hammer.

Carlos, who will join Index in January 2021, is the latest addition to the senior investment team, following the promotion of Nina Achadjian to Partner and the appointment of Stephane Kurgan as Venture Partner. Earlier in the week, Index also welcomed Adrianna Ma as its new Chief Operating Officer.

European tech is better for the contributions Carlos has made to startups across the continent and we're excited to have him as part of the Index family, helping to support the next generation of founders.

Welcome, Carlos!