Alidad Vakili is Of Counsel and a business lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP, based in the firm’s San Francisco office where he is a member of the Transactions Practice. Alidad’s practice is focused on advising entrepreneurs, founders, startups, emerging growth companies, and investors at all stages of the company’s life cycle, from formation to exit.
Alidad regularly advises startups and emerging growth companies on a wide range of issues, including general corporate matters such as formations and corporate governance, as well as debt and equity financing, venture capital financing, and commercial matters across a number of industries, including technology, health care, and clean energy.
Alidad’s experience also includes project finance for renewable energy development and cross-border transactions. Prior to joining Foley, Alidad was counsel in the San Francisco office of a global law firm in the corporate, M&A, emerging growth, and venture capital practices.
Representative Experience*
- Represented purchaser in connection with $1,500,000 in Series Seed financing of a renewable energy start-up company.
- Represented Saas-based mobile analytics company as temporary in-house counsel in connection with commercial contracting and related issues.
- Represented aerospace company in connection with $13,500,000 in Series A financing.
- Represented company in connection with a $20,000,000 secured bridge financing.
- Represented company in connection with a $25,000,000 subordinated secured convertible note offering.
- Represented purchaser in $2,000,000 acquisition of manufacturing company.
- Represented aerospace company in connection with a $2,300,000 in Series Seed financing.
- Represented technology company in connection with $1,200,000 in Series A-3 financing.
- Represented publishing company in connection with GDPR gap assessment and compliance issues.
- Represented technology and payment processing company in connection with GDPR gap assessment and compliance issues.
- Represented technology company in connection with $2,200,000 in Series Seed-3 financing.
- Represented technology start-up company in connection with a corporate flip and $300,000 in Series Seed financing.
- Represented aerospace company in connection with a $100,000,000 Series B financing.
- Represented aerospace company in connection with a $250,000,000 Series C financing.
- Represented investor in connection with a $37,000,000 Series B financing.
- Represented chip manufacturing company in connection with a $1,300,000 Series Seed financing.
- Represented autonomous vehicle technology company in connection with a $100,000,000 Series C financing.
- Represented purchaser in $20,000,000 acquisition of pharmaceutical drug manufacturing company.
*Certain of these matters were handled prior to Foley
Affiliations
- Board Member, Round Hill Property Owners Association (May 2022 to Present)
- San Diego Lawyer Magazine (Past Associate Editor)
- San Diego County Bar Association (Committee on Civility, Integrity and Professionalism; Lawyer Referral and Information Services Committee; Past Co-chair, Business and Corporate Law Section; Website Committee)
- Doctors Offering Charitable Services (Past General Corporate Counsel)
- California Western School of Law (Past Adjunct Professor of STEPPS Course)
Presentations and Publications
- Speaker, “How to Position Your Startup for Venture Capital Funding,” Idea to IPO, Webinar, July 28, 2022
- Speaker, “How to Avoid Big Startup Mistakes,” Idea to IPO, Webinar, June 23, 2022
- Speaker, “How to a Venture Capital Financing,” Idea to IPO, Webinar, April 28, 2022
- Speaker, “How to Avoid Big Startup Mistakes,” Idea to IPO, Webinar, March 31, 2022
- Speaker, “How to Position Your Startup for Venture Capital Funding,” Idea to IPO, Webinar, March 24, 2022
- Presenter, “Startup Corporate Issues for U.S. Companies: Critical Keys to Success,” SkyDeck Workshop, May 19, 2021
- Presenter, “Understanding Venture Capital Financings,” Direct Energy, May 21, 2019
- Speaker, “Legal Strategies for Cross-Border Start-Ups,” K&L Gates Panel Presentation for Muru-D, San Francisco, CA, February 19, 2019
- Moderator, “Nordic and Baltic Gaming Meets Silicon Valley Venture Capital,” Silicon Valley Vikings, San Francisco, CA, April 4, 2019
- Speaker, “Cybersecurity and Privacy in 2018 in Review,” K&L Gates Panel Presentation, Webinar, February 19, 2019
- Moderator, “Learning From Leaders Series,” K&L Gates and Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce Presentation by Former United States Ambassador to Sweden, Azita Raji, San Francisco, CA October 18, 2018
- Moderator, “Japanese Pitch Night: Summer 2018”, Silicon Valley Forum, San Francisco, CA, July 26, 2018
- Speaker, Doing Business in the United States. BelCham: Summer Catalyst 2018, San Francisco, CA 2018
- Speaker, “Workshop on GDPR Compliance”, Workshop with Julia Jacobson for Berkeley SkyDeck, Berkeley, CA April 17, 2018
- Speaker, “Venture Financing”, Hult International Business School, San Francisco, CA April 17, 2018
- Speaker, “EU’s General Data Protection Regulation Goes Into Effect May 2018: Are you Prepared?” Panel Presentation, San Francisco, CA, March 20, 2018
- Moderator, “Managing Board Expectations,” K&L Gates and Triad Group Panel Presentation, San Francisco, CA November 9, 2017
- Speaker, War Stories: Tales from the Trenches. SF Startup: Idea to IPO, San Francisco, CA, September 7, 2017
- Judge, Silicon Valley Forum’s Startup Pitch Night: Focus on HealthTech 2017, San Francisco, July 19, 2017
- Speaker, “Le Marriage: Eight Issues When Aligning Corporates and Startups (with an International Twist),” Mind the Bridge – Insurtech / Automotive Global Matching: Pitch DemoDay, San Francisco, CA July 6, 2017
- Speaker, “Privacy and Data Protection,” EIT Digital Event – Europe’s Vision on Digital Transformation, San Francisco, CA, January 10, 2017
- Speaker, “Annual Securities Law Update – 1 Year After the Dodd-Frank Act: Where We’ve Gone and What’s in Store for the Future”, San Diego County Bar Association, San Diego, CA September 27, 2011
- The Four Rules of Pre-Transactional Planning for a Successful Sale. PitchBook Newsletter, April 5, 2013
- Taking “STEPPS” Towards Lawyering, San Diego Lawyer Magazine, September 2012
- Winds of Change, February 9, 2011, Climate Change Report, K&L Gates LLP
- Doing Business in the Middle East: A Guide for U.S. Companies, California Western International Law Journal, 2004
Languages
- Farsi (Persian)
- French
Startup Advisors: When should startups think about branding?
Foley’s Startup Advisors answer questions that entrepreneurs need to know for their startup venture. In this video we discuss branding and protecting your name/brand.
Startup Advisors: How to Avoid Key Startup Mistakes?
Foley’s Startup Advisors answer questions that entrepreneurs need to know for their startup venture. In this video we discuss how to avoid key startup mistakes.
Startup Advisors: What is vesting and why is it important?
Foley’s Startup Advisors answer questions that entrepreneurs need to know for their startup venture. In this video we discuss vesting and why it is important.
How to Raise Seed Funding for Your Startup: Convertible Notes and SAFEs
Join Alidad Vakili, Of Counsel with Foley & Lardner LLP, for a discussion on how to position your startup for venture capital funding.
Startup Advisors: Key issues when onboarding employees and consultants
Foley’s Startup Advisors answer questions that entrepreneurs need to know for their startup venture. In this video we discuss key issues when onboarding employees and consultants.
Foley Represents Customer Fulfillment Robotics Company Instock in Latest Funding Round
Foley & Lardner LLP recently represented Instock Inc., an innovator in customer fulfillment robotics, in its most recent funding round.