Gardere Formally Launches Its Venture Capital and Emerging Business Group
Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP is pleased to announce the launch of its Venture Capital and Emerging Business Practice Group, solidifying the Firm’s experience in that arena. This specialty practice group is led by co-chairs and partners Adam C. Hull, Rick Jordan and Glenn T. Singleton, and includes participation from lawyers across all specialty areas, such as intellectual property, labor, tax and executive compensation.
In addition, the group welcomed Majorie Mastin Winters to the Firm’s Austin office in January. Ms. Winters counsels entrepreneurs in matters related to formation, structuring, intellectual property protection and financing. Her background also includes acting as director and of counsel for a program that serves the specific needs of early-stage, high-growth companies.
“Gardere has long been active in the early-stage market, but primarily has focused efforts on later-stage investments,” says Firm chair Holland N. O’Neil. “With this initiative and the addition of Majorie, we are deploying increased resources to provide earlier-stage clients with increased access to sophisticated legal services and market connections. Simultaneously, our expanded activity in this space will, among other things, provide our venture fund and other investor clients with additional looks at early-stage companies.”
With offices in four of the top 12 cities for startup activity, according to The Kauffman Index, Gardere’s Venture Capital and Emerging Business Practice Group is strategically positioned to assist venture-backed and fast-growth companies across Texas and nationally. Among other strategic initiatives, the team partners with emerging companies – primarily those in the technology, life sciences and healthcare industries – through all stages of development, providing innovative solutions for the legal and business challenges they face.
The team regularly shares insights with entrepreneurs and investors, speaking at the SXSW Interactive Festival and the Texas Venture Growth Forum in Austin, Texas, the SXSW Venture-to-Venture Conference in Las Vegas, and other industry conferences. At these events, the team discusses capital raising alternatives, securities offering matters and exit opportunities, among other topics. Additional information on the group’s upcoming SXSW appearance in March can be found here.
As a market leader for assisting venture-backed and family-owned businesses in effecting exits and other liquidity events, the team’s dual focus on representing investors and emerging businesses provides clients with the high-quality and market-focused advice needed in the evolving early-stage market. In this respect, the team recently represented NextSeed US LLC in its launch as the first national funding portal approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. under the new Regulation Crowdfunding rules of Title III of the JOBS Act, which went into effect on May 16, 2016. The model utilized by the team helped lay the groundwork for how crowdfunding platforms should address applicable securities and broker-dealer laws, lending regulations, internal structuring and tax laws.
More information about Gardere’s Venture Capital and Emerging Business Practice Group can be found here.