Virgin Green Fund adds new partner
- Apr 08, 2010
Virgin Green Fund, a private equity firm focused on growth capital investing in the renewable energy and resource efficiency sectors, today announced that Toby Coppel has joined the firm as a Partner in its London office. Coppel is a seasoned investor and operator with broad experience investing in the cleantech sector, with special emphasis on European-based opportunities.
“Virgin Green Fund is extremely pleased to have Toby as our newest partner” said Shai Weiss, Partner in London. “Toby has a strong track record of principal investing in growth companies. He also has strong operational experience and will bring unique insights into the convergence of energy, communications and information technologies as we continue to distinguish VGF as a leading growth capital investor in the renewable energy and resource efficiency sectors.”
“Virgin Green Fund is a dynamic and entrepreneurial firm that represents a truly unique platform for investing in renewables and resource efficiency and I am thrilled to be joining such a talented group of professionals,” said Coppel. “It is the perfect platform for me to leverage my investment and operating experience in technology, media and communications to identify and manage attractive investment opportunities.”
Coppel formerly held a number of senior executive roles with Yahoo!, including Chief Strategy Officer and Managing Director, Yahoo! Europe. While at Yahoo!, he was responsible for almost $5 billion of acquisitions and investments, including the $1 billion investment in Alibaba and the $1.7 billion acquisition of Overture. In an operating capacity, Coppel led a restructuring and turnaround of Yahoo’s European business, operating in 10 countries with more than 2,000 employees. In addition, Coppel was executive sponsor for Yahoo’s global sustainability program and led several initiatives including the launch of Yahoo! Green, a leading consumer website for sustainable living, and the management of Yahoo’s carbon footprint across its global data centers and facilities.
Prior to Yahoo!, Coppel was a Founding Partner of Windsor Media together with Terry Semel, former co-Chairman and co-CEO of Warner Bros. Coppel led Windsor Media’s investment in Leapfrog Enterprises, an educational toy company Windsor took public in July 2002. Prior to joining Windsor Media, Coppel was a principal investor and investment banker with Allen & Company. While at Allen & Company Coppel made several successful investments, including Spinner Networks, an internet radio service acquired by AOL, Atom Shockwave, an internet entertainment company acquired by Viacom, and Intertrust Technologies, a digital rights management company that went public and was subsequently acquired by Sony and Philips. Earlier in his career, Coppel held finance and investment roles with Goldman Sachs.
Coppel has a Master of Arts degree with First Class Honours in PPE from Oxford University and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School. Coppel is an Industry Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute and a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.
Virgin Green Fund is a leading growth capital investor targeting companies in the renewable energy and resource efficiency sectors, primarily in the United States and Europe. Virgin Green Fund seeks to help management teams increase the value of growth businesses by utilizing its equity, experience and global networks to help companies seize opportunities and solve problems. In doing so, VGF works collaboratively with its portfolio companies, bringing to bear the operational expertise and financial acumen of the VGF Team to help management teams think critically about strategic issues such as market positioning, recruiting, acquisitions and financings. Virgin Green Fund has been launched with the backing of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and a strong network of additional limited partners, and operates out of offices in London and San Francisco.
For more information, visit Virgin Green Fund.
