Business Law: Venture Capital

The Venture Capital team at Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC represents institutional venture capital firms in preferred stock financing transactions, debt financings and mergers and sales of portfolio companies. The Group also represents technology companies in general corporate matters, mergers and sales, and financing transactions.

Our talented and experienced team offers exceptionally quick turn-around on client requests and a thorough understanding of how investors and companies are adapting to the rapidly changing venture capital market.

Our team’s substantial experience in venture capital transactions and business combinations, together with our intellectual property and securities law expertise, enables us to serve venture capital clients and emerging growth companies worldwide.

Tom Moody, chair of the firm’s Business Law Practice Group and of the Venture Capital team, has broad experience in venture capital financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, debt financing and secured transactions. He has served as lead investors' counsel in numerous preferred stock investment transactions throughout the United States.

Larry Meier, chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group, is an experienced patent lawyer who was a senior intellectual property attorney with the Microelectronics Division of the IBM Corporation before joining DRM. He has led numerous IP due diligence investigations in connection with venture capital financing transactions.

The Venture Capital team advises clients on investment transactions throughout the country and internationally.

In a practice area dominated by large urban firms, DRM more than holds its own. Our significant experience in the national arena equips the Venture Capital Group to provide services comparable to larger firms. These services include:

Investment Transactions

• Serve as company counsel or investor's counsel in preferred stock transactions.
• Represent institutional investors in preferred stock and convertible debt closings.
• Provide solid legal advice that reflects the current market conditions and a commitment to getting the deal done within the timeframe established by the parties.

Due Diligence

• Conduct legal due diligence in investment transactions.
• Review and evaluate contracts, capitalization issues and corporate records.
• Conduct IP due diligence to determine whether there are conflicting ownership interests and whether intellectual property rights have been adequately protected.

Intellectual Property Audits

• Perform intellectual property audits for client companies and for institutional investors wishing to evaluate or check the IP protection procedures employed by their portfolio companies.
• Provide recommendations regarding how the company can better protect its proprietary assets.

Our collective experience enables DRM to provide a full range of services to venture capital firms and technology companies, and our northern New England location offers cost advantages to our clients.

As investment firms look for ways to reduce transaction costs in this market, DRM's high quality service and relatively low fee structure is an attractive alternative.

Contact Us

To learn more about our Venture Capital practice, contact Tom Moody.