Overview
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.
Representative Transactions
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
Education
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).
Recognition
- 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
Community Engagement
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.
Admissions and Professional Memberships
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)