Practice

Emerging Company & Venture Capital

Driving Growth for Visionary Companies and Investors

Sheppard advises founders, high-growth emerging companies and venture capital investors driving innovation across the innovation economy. 

Our full-service capabilities and deep industry experience help clients raise capital, structure deals and grow strategically from launch through exit. 

Comprehensive Support for Startups, Investors and Innovators 

Sheppard’s Emerging Company & Venture Capital lawyers provide the insight and connections clients need at every stage of growth.

Our Emerging Company & Venture Capital team supports founders, startups, boards, and both institutional and strategic investors through seed and angel financing, growth rounds and eventual exits. Our work spans a wide range of technology-driven and innovation-focused sectors, such as technology platforms, artificial intelligence, blockchain, financial technology, entertainment, digital media, aerospace and defense, and life sciences. 

Combining transactional strengths with industry insight, our venture capital lawyers advise on formation, equity structures, financings, governance, commercial agreements, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic partnerships. For venture capital funds and strategic investors, we provide deal structuring and portfolio company support, drawing on the firm’s full capabilities in corporate, tax, intellectual property and regulatory matters. 

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Experience

Representative Matters
  • Represented Agentio, Inc., a technology-driven sales and partnership automation platform, in its Series A and Series B financing rounds led by Benchmark and Forerunner, with participation from Craft Ventures, AlleyCorp, and other investors.
  • Represented AeroMINE Technologies, Inc., a renewable energy startup, in its Series A Preferred Stock financing.
  • Represented ALT Sports Data, Inc., an innovative sports data and analytics solutions company, in the closing of its Seed-2 round.
  • Represented BitGo, a leading digital asset security company, in its Series C-1 Preferred Stock financing.
  • Represented Carenostics Inc., an AI-powered healthcare diagnostics company, in its Series Seed financing round led by M13 Ventures.
  • Represented Vanterra Ventures as lead investor in Cove Kombucha, Inc., a Canadian corporation focused on non-alcoholic probiotic beverages.
  • Represented Hanover Technologies, a technology solutions company, in its initial SAFE financing round.
  • Represented Immunis, Inc., a privately held biotech company focused on immune-derived therapeutics, in its Series A-1 financing round.
  • Represented various investors in a convertible promissory note financing of Miach Orthopaedics, a medical technology company.
  • Represented nEye Systems, Inc., an emerging technology business, in its Series B financing.
  • Represented PBS Biotech Inc., a leading manufacturer of single-use bioreactor systems, in its Series F financing.
  • Represented Plan A Games, LLC, a provider of strategic advisory and growth capital to mobile game developers and platforms, in its formation and growth equity investment led by Fortress Investment Group.
  • Represented Playground Productions LLC in its convertible note investment into Range Media Partners LLC, including conversion into Range Media's Series B financing round.
  • Represented ProfitR Inc., a loan tokenization platform, in its Series Seed financing round.
  • Represented RainMaker dba FluidLogic, a technology company transforming high-performance hydration, in its Series A extension financing round.
  • Represented Right Trigger Entertainment Incorporated in the transfer and disaffiliation of the $SPICE Token network to the Citadel Syndicate Foundation.
  • Assisted Tractor Beverages, Inc., a producer of organic and natural beverages, with a closing of its note financing.
  • Represented UrgentPaws Holdings, LLC, a veterinary and pet care provider, in its offering of convertible promissory notes.
  • Represented a technology company pioneering Wi-AI, a spatial intelligence platform designed to enhance school safety while safeguarding privacy, in its Series Seed preferred stock financing led by Reach Capital.
Clients
  • Ankona Capital
  • Avego Management, LLC
  • Chicago Pacific Founders
  • M13 Ventures
  • Penny Jar Capital
  • Rakuten Group, Inc.
  • Reach Capital
  • Signet Healthcare Partners
  • Solyco Capital
  • Sweetwater
  • Vanterra Ventures