[Infowarrior] - Top Silicon Valley investor resigns as allegation of sexual assault emerges

[Richard Forno]

Top Silicon Valley investor resigns as allegation of sexual assault emerges

Hours after investor Dave McClure resigned over inappropriate behavior, another female entrepreneur came forward with her story

Olivia Solon and Sam Levin in San Francisco

Monday 3 July 2017 22.04 EDT Last modified on Monday 3 July 2017 22.06 EDT

A prominent Silicon Valley investor has resigned following allegations of sexual harassment, and just hours before a fresh allegation surfaced, this time of sexual assault.

Dave McClure resigned as general partner of 500 Startups, the seed investment group he co-founded in 2010, on Monday after several women accused him of inappropriate behavior. He had already stepped down as chief executive of the investment group following the allegations and published a blog post apologizing for being “inappropriate”.

The blog posted prompted entrepreneur Cheryl Sew Hoy to come forward with an even more serious allegation: that McClure sexually assaulted her three years ago.

“I’m now ready to tell my account of what Dave McClure inflicted on me 3 years ago, in my own apartment. It’s not just inappropriate, it’s assault,” she wrote in a blog post on her website.

McClure did not immediately respond to repeated requests for comment.

His resignation comes one week after well-connected venture capitalist Justin Caldbeck admitted to sexually harassing female entrepreneurs and stepped down in the face of numerous public accusations. A former Uber engineer’s account of harassment and discrimination also went viral in February, sparking widespread outrage about sexism in Silicon Valley.

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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/03/silicon-valley-dave-mcclure-resigns-sexual-assault