Emerging Companies

Our approach

Every entrepreneur has a vision. To bring that vision to life, technology and life sciences entrepreneurs must make many critical decisions across different disciplines at very high velocity—from creating an amazing product or service, to finding the product-market fit, to partnering with the right investors and hiring world-class talent, to making the best business, strategy, and legal decisions. The road to success is arduous.

Our Emerging Companies and Venture Capital team knows that you, the entrepreneur, need a caring and sophisticated legal team that can skillfully resolve your problems—whether complex challenges, novel issues of law, or more day-to-day problems.

We understand your journey and the ecosystems and markets in which you operate. Our team shares your commitment and drive for excellence and achievement. And that's precisely why we are committed to seamlessly taking care of the legal challenges you face, so you can focus on your vision.

Our services

• Identify the best choice of entity and business formation to ensure rational ownership among the founders, advisors, and other team members so future fundraising and recruiting efforts run smoothly
• Craft effective equity incentive plans to align the interests of founders, employees, and advisors
• Draft and negotiate friends and family, angel, venture capital, and private equity financing transactions
• Develop intellectual property protection strategies, including portfolio management, to protect your most valuable innovations
• Craft proactive approaches to employment and consulting agreements to minimize avoidable disputes
• Draft and negotiate licensing and other technology transactions to optimize revenue and reduce the risk of litigation
• Provide immigration support to enable the buildout of a world-class team
• Deliver strategic product counseling to help manage and eliminate the regulatory risk associated with building consumer and enterprise technology products
• Provide legal and strategic advice for a wide array of regulatory matters
• Guide companies throughout their life cycles on governance matters, including founder disputes and nuanced issues of corporate control

Representative experience

• Represented a battery sciences company, in connection with its Series C Preferred Stock financing round led by Volta Energy Technologies, an energy-focused venture fund, and General Motors Ventures, its Series B Preferred Stock financing led by Signia Venture Partners and Pacific View Capital Partners, and its Series A Preferred Stock financing, led by Pacific View Capital Partners and other prominent angel and family offices
• Represented a universal mileage rewards app in its Series A Preferred Stock financing led by Scrum Ventures with participation from TransLink Capital, JAL Innovation Fund, and several other prominent individual and strategic investors, including JetBlue Technology Ventures, Porsche Ventures, Panasonic, and Sony Innovation Fund
• Represented an adult primary care and telehealth services provider in multiple financing rounds, including its Series A Preferred Stock financing entered into by a Canadian public company that owns and operates a portfolio of primary healthcare facilities throughout in the United States and Canada
• Represented a healthcare software company offering an AI image analysis platform and applications supporting imaging data in multiple financing rounds
• Represented a biotechnology company engaged in the business of developing and commercializing a molecule platform created from natural silk protein, in the sale of $120M of Series C Preferred Stock to certain new and existing investors
• Represented a developer of groundbreaking vision-correcting eye drops, in connection with its Series A venture funding through Versant Venture Capital VII, LP
• Represented a biotechnology company in connection with M&A work, SAFE Financing, Licensing and Technology Agreements
• Represented a clinical-stage biotechnology company in its Series B Preferred Stock financing led by Adjuvent Global Health and the Topspin Fund
• Represented a biotechnology company that specializes in the development of immune mapping technologies in connection with its Series A, B, and C financings totaling more than $20 million

Recognition

• Consistently named as a leading firm in Corporate/M&A and Startups & Emerging Companies by Chambers: USA publication in 2024 and previous years
• Ranked as Tier 1 for Venture Capital Law in U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” in 2024
• Recognized as a leader in middle-market mergers, acquisitions, and buyouts by Legal 500 in 2023
• Over half of our corporate partners and counsel recognized by Chambers, Legal 500, and The Best Lawyers in America© 2023–2024 as leading attorneys in the field