Calfee’s Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practice focuses on helping innovators, entrepreneurs and investors in successfully launching businesses, raising financing and growing their companies. We offer practical, solution-focused advice with a business perspective honed from representing clients at every stage of development – from corporate formation, to initial and later-stage financing, to sale, IPO or market leadership.
Our firm-wide capabilities and team-oriented approach to service enable our clients to call upon a range of experienced lawyers in a variety of practice areas, including our Intellectual Property group with a breadth and depth of experience that has a reputation for being unsurpassed in our region.
Entrepreneurs
We work with entrepreneurs to:
We offer guidance on forming and running a board of directors or advisers, and we also attend board meetings and provide counseling on important business decisions.
We have represented entrepreneurs in a variety of business ventures, most notably in software development, financial technology, technology-enabled services and medical device design and development.
In addition to our corporate expertise, we are able to use the knowledge of our lawyers who hold degrees in various technical and scientific fields to gain a sophisticated understanding of the technical and intellectual property issues faced by companies in these industries.
Investors
Calfee has represented seed investors, angel and early-stage investors, high-net-worth individuals, venture capital firms and private equity firms in their investments in numerous technology companies as well as various other industries.
Through our experience with emerging companies, we are able to efficiently manage venture capital financings and effectively navigate more complex transactions. Our practical, solutions-driven approach and our experience enable us to cost-effectively protect investors’ interests.
With the assistance of our Intellectual Property group, comprised of more than 40 lawyers with technical and scientific degrees, we can conduct sophisticated due diligence, including landscape analyses of competitors’ patents, clearance studies and patent portfolio audits, and provide opinions and advice regarding patentability, infringement, validity and freedom to operate.
Calfee represents numerous venture capital funds, private equity funds, hedge funds, real estate investment partnerships and other investment entities in connection with their organization, management, operation and compliance. Our fund clients also draw on the resources of our corporate, litigation, tax and other practices for their investment activities and internal management and administration needs.
Chambers USA 2022 Band 2 Ranking in Corporate/M&A – Ohio: North
For more than a decade, Calfee has been ranked for Corporate/M&A – Ohio by Chambers USA. Chambers USA commentators noted Calfee's Corporate and Finance practice "Draws from an impressive statewide team with a strong track record across a broad range of corporate and transactional matters, acting on behalf of public and private businesses and financial institutions. Areas of excellence include M&A, securities offerings and private equity and venture capital fund formation."
U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” Rankings
Calfee was selected for inclusion in the 2023 "Best Law Firms" rankings by U.S. News – Best Lawyers in the following areas:
We have advised issuers and investors in numerous fund-raising transactions, including these notable engagements in the past several years:
Calfee's Corporate and Finance practice "draws from an impressive statewide team with a strong track record across a broad range of corporate and transactional matters. Areas of excellence include M&A, securities offerings and private equity and venture capital fund formation."
Researcher comments from Chambers USA
