Von Bryant is a partner and corporate lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP where he focuses on helping companies achieve success in business with a strategic and pragmatic approachSM. He is a member of the firm’s Transactions, Private Equity, Venture Capital and Fund Formation & Investment Management Practices as well as the Sports & Entertainment Industry Team. Von is passionate about working with clients to solve business problems and obtain optimal outcomes.
Von’s practice is concentrated on the representation of investors, start-up companies and mature businesses, and focuses on venture capital financings and private equity transactions, M&A and investment fund formation. His broad corporate practice also includes regularly counseling clients on technology licensing, commercial agreements, corporate governance matters and general business counseling.
Venture Capital & Growth Equity
Investors
- Represented numerous venture capital and growth equity investors in making strategic investments in technology, healthcare, clean energy and other innovative businesses.
- Represented bio-tech focused investment fund in a series of portfolio investments into biomedical startup companies
- Represented Fortune 500 healthcare company in a series of behavioral health platform and related technology investments
- Represented healthcare focused venture capital fund on numerous preferred equity investments and several PIPE transactions
- Represented numerous high-net-worth individuals and family offices in early stage investments
Companies
- Represented emerging growth companies in the structuring and receipt of institutional investment
- Represented consumer goods company in its pitch on ABC’s Shark Tank and related investments
- Represented companies receiving investment from Y Combinator, TechStars, NASA, TEDCO (Maryland Entrepreneur Fund) and other accelerators
- Represented companies in AI, cyber-security, health-tech, Fintech, Edtech, solar energy, nanotechnology, biotech, software, cannabis, and food and beverage industries for over a decade
- Represented space technology company in $110 million Series B Preferred Stock offering to strategic public company investors in cross-border transaction
- Frequently negotiate and structure convertible notes, SAFEs, seed equity, preferred equity, private placements and other start-up company offerings
Mergers, Acquisitions and Joint Ventures
- Represented Tier 1 automotive supplier in an $800 million strategic cross-border acquisition of electrified mobility company
- Represented Fortune 500 healthcare company in $117 million strategic acquisition and joint venture with behavioral health business
- Advised a cybersecurity software and professional services firm, from formation through its receipt of a $55 million strategic growth investment from a growth equity firm partnering with software and technology-enabled services companies
- Represented digital health platform business in $200 million sale to publicly traded health insurance company
- Represented plastics manufacturing company in $100 million sale to private equity buyer
- Represented public companies on multiple “spin-off” and “carve-out” auction transactions in excess of $1 billion
Investment Management and Fund Formation
- Formed impact investment fund focused on accelerating women and minority-owned businesses
- Formed venture capital fund focused on investing in early-stage technology companies in Africa
- Formed investment fund focused on agricultural development and farm production
- Represented early-stage venture capital firm investing in tech driven companies led by underrepresented founders
- Work with early-stage investment group focused on investments in arts and media developed by BIPOC creators
Von earned his law degree from Washington University School of Law (J.D., 2011) where he received a Legal Practice Award for Excellence in Oral Advocacy. During law school, he attended National Taiwan University College of Law for a semester as a visiting student, where he studied cross-border transactions and comparative law. Von earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (B.S., 2006).
As an undergraduate, Von played NCAA Division I football at UPenn and for two seasons at Duke University as a full athletic scholarship recipient for the Blue Devils (prior to transferring to UPenn).
- Selected as Foley’s 2020 Fellow on the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD)
- Named to The National Black Lawyers – “Top 40 Under 40” for Washington, D.C., a professional honorary organization where the invitation is extended exclusively to lawyers who excel in their areas of practice
- Named to the Lawyers of Color “Hot List” for the Eastern Region, which recognizes early-to mid-career minority attorneys excelling in the legal profession
Von serves as the coordinator and lead supervisory attorney to Georgetown University Law Center’s Entrepreneurship Practicum, a pro bono effort that provides business counsel and legal advice to startups with a positive social impact and/or for entrepreneurs from underserved communities. He is also a volunteer advisor for the Georgetown Venture Lab – Startup Hoyas.
Von is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Massachusetts. He is a member of the Boston Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Publications and Presentations
- Presenter to Canadian Technology Accelerator for AgTech, ClimateTech and Digital Health cohorts (August – October 2022)
- Panelist for Renaissance Venture Capital’s DEI UnDemo Day®, an event advising and showcasing venture capital investors from around the country and designed exclusively to attract national venture capital to diverse founders (April, 2022)
- Presenter at National Bar Association’s 96th Annual Conference and Convention, “M&A Primer and Bootcamp” (July 24, 2021)
- Presenter at 1863 Ventures Pipeline Program for accelerating women and minority-owned businesses (November 1, 2019)
- Panelist, “Early Stage Fundraising for Life Science Emerging Companies,” Maryland Tech Council (June 27, 2019)
- Co-moderator, “Best Practices in Director Recruitment and Onboarding,” National Directors Institute, Chicago, IL (October 2018)
- Presenter, “Ten Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make…and How to Avoid Them,” WeDC Fest, Washington, D.C. (September 26-28, 2018)
- Co-author, “Private Equity Industry Practice Guide,” Lexis Practice Advisor® (July 2017)
- Quoted, “Are There Some Legal Tasks Technology Can’t Replace?,” Washington Lawyer Magazine (December 2016)
- Presenter, NASA Supported Space Race Challenge program, The Center for Advanced Innovation (August 1, 2016)
- Presenter, “Legal Considerations for Startup Entrepreneurs,” Founders Institute (June 13, 2016)
- Author, “Pitch Perfect: Eight Insights for Effective Start-Up Company Pitch Deck,” The National Law Review (March 29, 2016)
- Panelist, “A View From the Inside: Lawyers in Finance,” Georgetown Law Center Symposium on Corporate Law (February 29, 2016)
- Speaker, “What VCs are Looking for from Start-up Companies,” The University of Chicago, Careers in Entrepreneurship Program (April 22, 2015)
- Panelist, “Reduce Your Risk,” Greater Boston Startup Culture Meetup Group (April 1, 2014)
- Panelist, “(How to Avoid) Mistakes that Lawyers Make,” Boston Bar Association (December 17, 2012)
- Speaker, “Strategies for Success,” Boston Bar Association (July 10, 2012)