Early Deliveroo investor Hoxton Ventures is set to lose one of its founding partners

European task superior steadfast Hoxton Ventures, a backer of immoderate of the U.K.'s best-known tech unicorns, is acceptable to suffer 1 of its founding partners.

Rob Kniaz, who co-founded Hoxton successful 2013 with Hussein Kanji, is successful talks with organization concern firms astir establishing a caller task superior money focusing connected heavy tech investing, sources acquainted with the substance told CNBC.

Kniaz's departure is not imminent and helium volition proceed managing the $215 cardinal money the steadfast raised past twelvemonth arsenic helium prepares to yet exit to absorption connected his caller VC firm, according to the 2 sources, who preferred to stay anonymous arsenic the accusation has not yet been made public.

The timeline connected Kniaz's departure remains unclear astatine this stage, the sources added.

Kanji and Kniaz, 2 Americans who moved to the U.K. to put successful European startups, person backed immoderate of the country's astir notable unicorns. They see nutrient transportation app Deliveroo and cybersecurity steadfast Darktrace.

News of Kniaz's program to exit the steadfast arrives astatine a tumultuous clip for the tech industry. Last twelvemonth was a pugnacious 1 for growth-stage startups, whose valuations declined successful effect to rising involvement rates and softer user spending. Layoffs person besides plagued the industry.

Some of Hoxton's portfolio companies person seen their nationalist marketplace values descend arsenic investors re-examined their vulnerability to tech.

Deliveroo has fallen 68% since it debuted successful April 2021. Darktrace, which floated soon aft Deliveroo, is down 21% beneath its IPO terms and is the taxable of a short-seller onslaught implicit alleged flaws successful its accounting. Babylon Health has mislaid 95% of its marketplace worth since going nationalist via a operation with a peculiar intent acquisition company.

Nonetheless, Hoxton generated a hundredfold instrumentality connected its aboriginal bets connected Deliveroo and grew the worth of its Darktrace presumption by fiftyfold since archetypal investing successful the company, according to 1 of the sources.

It did nevertheless suffer wealth connected its Babylon Health deal, the root added.