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European VC Landscape

Shawn Atkinson Partner

London

In addition to sheer volume of deals, Shawn's incomparable market insight stems from his leadership roles at Orrick, the only global firm focused on technology, and his experience working throughout the UK & Europe, North America and Asia. Shawn serves as a member of the firm’s Board of Directors and leads Orrick's London Corporate practice. These leadership roles complement his practice serving public and private companies in UK multi-jurisdictional and complex corporate transactions, including countless acquisitions and disposals, cross-border mergers, bankruptcy infused asset sales, recapitalisations and reorganisations.

He is also a recognised leader in late stage venture transactions and in early stage private equity transactions in Europe and the emerging markets. Shawn has been recognised as a leading individual in several legal directories, including Chambers and Legal 500, for his expertise and excellence in venture capital, M&A, emerging markets, and fintech. In addition, he has been ranked as a top 5 (by volume) UK M&A lawyer in each of 2017, 2020-2024 by Mergermarket, including a #1 ranking in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

Shawn also advises early stage businesses across a number of sectors – including insurtech, Fintech, Crypto, SaaS, EdTech, HRTech, Marketplace and EnergyTech. He assists them from incorporation through to M&A exit, initial public offerings and other growth opportunities. His participation in the private equity and venture capital sector spans his entire career - with time spent in private practice, in-house and advising investors as well as investor-backed businesses-and affords him a deep knowledge and understanding of the industry and client needs and expectations.

Among the leading investment funds he has represented are ABN Amro Ventures, Acton Capital Partners, ABRY Partners, Accel Partners, Albion VC, Apax Partners, Bain Capital, Balderton Capital, Battery Ventures, Beringea, Bessemer Venture Partners, Black Pearls VC, Black Sheep Ventures, BMWi Ventures, Coatue Management, Columbia Capital, CommerzVentures, Evolvence, FTV Capital, Golden Gate Capital, Stepstone Group, Headway Capital Partners, Innova Capital, Kinnevik, KPS Capital Partners, Marlin Equity Partners, Mangrove Capital Partners, M/C Partners, Motive Partners, One Peak, Oxx, Pearson Ventures, Piper Private Equity, Piton Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Sprints, Summit Partners, Updata Partners, VNV Global and VEF.

Benjamin Cichostepski-Lesage Partner

Paris; Paris Tech Studio

Ben is the founding partner of Orrick's French Tech Companies Group. For more than 15 years, he has been advising high-potential innovative companies as well as venture and tech growth investors on all their corporate private equity and M&A transactions in France and globally.

As such, he is involved in every stage of their development, from incubation and fundraising to external growth and industrial exits as well as public offerings (IPO, secondary).

Ben has significant experience advising French companies expanding into the United States, and assists them over the full lifecycle of their overseas growth. He also counts a number of American investors and buyers among his clients.

From his first venture deal in 2006, where he represented Lightspeed Venture Partners in Wikio’s Series A, which became Teads, a company he then accompanied for 11 years until its sale to Altice, Ben has led more than 360 corporate tech transactions. He has been involved in the main exit transactions in recent years, particularly those with a franco-american element such as Neolane/Adobe, La Fourchette/TripAdvisor, Stupeflix/GoPro, eNovance/Red Hat, Regaind/Apple, Zenly/Snap, Teads/Altice, Getaround/Drivy, Glose/Medium, Sqreen/Datadog, Lalilo/Renaissance Learning, Tempow/Google, Context/Integral Ad Science, Monk/ACV Auctions, Cajoo/Flink, Shipfix/Veson Nautical, Bereal/Voodoo.

Ben's leadership has contributed to placing Orrick as the #1 Venture Capital and Tech Growth practice in France (ranked #1 by PitchBook in 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 - CF News in 2024, 2023, 2022). 

Recognized as a key lawyer in the market in venture capital and tech growth, Ben was ranked No. 1 in the "Top 10 Influential French Venture Capital Lawyers in Private Equity 2023" by Business Today. He was named "Lawyer of the Year" in the 2026 and 2023 editions of Best Lawyers France in the Venture Capital category. He is also ranked as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 EMEA in Private Equity - Venture Capital/Growth Capital since 2020 and was voted as the most active tech lawyer in France in 2019 by transaction volume in CF News’ ranking.

Ben is the founder of Orrick Paris Tech Studio, a one-of-a-kind office and working space created in June 2022 and located in the heart of the Paris Tech scene, which is the headquarters of Orrick's French Tech practice.

Dr. Sven Greulich, LL.M. (Cantuar), EMBA Partner

Düsseldorf

His clients include technology companies of all stages as well as venture capital and corporate venture capital investors. Together with an international and interdisciplinary team, he also supports scaleups and multinationals in their expansion projects, with a particular focus on cross-border transactions between Germany and the USA.

Sven’s goal is to build bridges for his clients between Germany, Silicon Valley, and other international technology hubs, helping them achieve successful growth in the global market. His legal and business background, entrepreneurial spirit, and experience from more than 400 financing rounds and M&A projects across various industries enable him to fully understand his clients’ strategic and commercial objectives and to develop creative solutions to achieve them.

Sven volunteers with entrepreneur groups at the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, the RWTH Aachen, the Technical University of Munich and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; he regularly lectures at the WHU and the RWTH incubation and innovation centers. In 2020, he launched the Founder Legal Boot Camp, a unique free-of-charge seminar program that educates aspiring founding teams from technical and business universities about all relevant legal pitfalls in the areas of company formation, financing, and the initial growth phase. Organized in collaboration with Germany’s leading startup universities, the Founder Legal Boot Camp now takes place three times a year in Düsseldorf, Munich, and alternately in Karlsruhe/Stuttgart.

Sven's work has been repeatedly awarded, inter alia

• Chambers ranks him as one of the top 3 venture capital lawyers in Germany (2025);
• the leading German market publication JUVE - since 2019 - ranks Sven as one of Germanyʹs top 15 attorneys for venture capital, the highest recognition for this category awarded by JUVE (2025/2026);
• Legal500 Deutschland includes Sven as “frequently recommended” for M&A (mid-sized deals) as well as private equity (mid-sized deals) and ranks him as a “leading partner” for venture capital (2025); and
• Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers list Sven as a Best Lawyer in the category Venture Capital (2025), and Sven also received their award "Venture Capital Lawyer of the Year – Western Germany" (2025); and
• in the 2017 edition of its Innovative Lawyers Report Europe, the Financial Times named Svenʹs work to connect start-ups with Germanyʹs Mittelstand (mid-sized companies) a standout “for making bridges between Silicon Valley and Germany”.

Attilio Mazzilli Partner

Milan

Attilio brings to the table a wealth of knowledge and a deep understanding of the technology sector, which is critical in today's rapidly evolving business landscape. His practice is primarily focused on providing expert legal advice on cross-border and domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity, and venture capital transactions. 

Attilio has a rich history of advising both domestic and multinational companies as well as private equity funds through their most critical and complex M&A and investments transactions. His focus within the dynamic realms of technology industry has positioned him as a go-to legal strategist for companies seeking to navigate the intricate and often disruptive characteristic market shifts of these sectors. His tailored approach ensures that the companies he advises are well-positioned to capitalize on the opportunities presented by their investments and M&A activities, fostering growth, innovation, and competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving business landscape.

In the context of innovation, Attilio’s role as an advisor to VC firms and high-growth technology companies places him at the forefront of investments in the tech industry.

His experience covers a broad spectrum of legal disciplines and is critical in identifying and evaluating potential investment opportunities within the sector, particularly in areas prone to rapid growth and innovation. With a seasoned understanding of market trends and the intricacies of startup development, Attilio advises investors on how to allocate their capital effectively, maximizing potential returns.

He is also extensively experienced at guiding technology companies at all stages of their life cycle and his contributions is invaluable for companies transitioning from seed stage through Series A and B funding rounds and eventually to exit strategies. His guidance encompasses strategic planning, corporate governance, and the navigation of regulatory environments. Startups, with their inherent risks and potential for exponential growth, require nuanced advice to thrive, and Attilio offers tailored counsel to help these companies scale their operations, refine their business models, and attract further investment. His experience is also instrumental in preparing these companies for various exit scenarios, whether through acquisitions, mergers, or initial public offerings (IPOs), ensuring that founders and investors alike realize their ventures' full value.