Venture Capital & Emerging Companies

As societies and markets increasingly insist that corporations generate positive social impact alongside profit, investors have taken notice. The global impact investing market alone, for instance, doubled from $114 billion in 2017 to $228 billion in 2018, and will almost certainly continue to accelerate.

MintzTech upcoming events - April 2019

In late 2015, Congress amended Section 4 of the Securities Act of 1933 to add new Section 4(a)(7), which permits resales of private, restricted stock after 90 days without requiring a registration with the SEC.

This issue’s topics include the SEC no action letter on utility tokens, raising capital as a public benefit corp, resales of private securities using Section 4(a)(7), distributing equity among start-up stakeholders, and the abc’s of California employment law.

The purpose of granting equity to management, employees and certain consultants is to align the interests of the parties pivotal to the growth of your company with the interests of investors. There are a number of different ways to grant equity in a start-up, the most common of which is stock options. (For an in-depth discussion of granting options, including reasons to give options, differences between Incentive Stock Options and Non-Incentive Stock Options, determining fair market value and vesting schedules, please see this post on our MintzEdge blog.

This alert looks at recent SEC communications providing guidance on — and limiting the use of — digital tokens.

Commercial co-venture arrangements are a great way to blend philanthropy and commercial activities, but the parties in such an arrangement need to be mindful of the rules in each of the 50 states that govern commercial co-venture arrangements.

This issue of TechConnect covers issues for emerging companies to consider when dividing and sharing equity and disproportional rights and controls for directors.

Upcoming events - TechConnect Industry News - February 2019

Jennifer Rubin, a Member in the Employment, Labor & Benefits Practice, and Sebastian Lucier, a Member in the Venture Capital & Emerging Companies Practice, discuss employment law related matters for companies operating in the state of California, including the challenges relating to characterizing an individual as an employee rather than an independent contractor.

Section 141(d) of the Delaware General Corporations Law (DGCL) allows the certificate of incorporation (COI) of a Delaware corporation to confer upon one or more directors voting powers greater than or less than those of other directors, thus resulting in “disproportionate voting” rights amongst the Directors.

Just about every emerging business/start-up lawyer could write a book (and many have!) on the topics of equity division, incorporation and the innumerable ‘other details’ founders need to keep in mind when starting a business!

This issue of TechConnect covers liability considerations for directors of Delaware public benefit corporations and profiles FinTech company Templum.

Founders choosing a structure for their business are often drawn to the limited liability company, or LLC, for its overall flexibility in both taxation and governance matters. And founders seeking access to early capital, not to mention seed investors themselves, are often drawn to the convertible note as a simple, less expensive means to raise funds. But LLCs and convertible debt don’t always mix.

Templum Inc., is a leading innovative financial technology company focused on the development of new market infrastructure for the digital asset sector. Templum Markets LLC, their captive broker-dealer and alternative trading system, offers issuers a platform for the initial sale of their digital assets and provides both issuers and investors a centralized platform for secondary trading.

Upcoming events - TechConnect Industry News - November 2018

This article explains why the “cryptocurrency” label can be misleading, and suggests we use “virtual currencies,” “security tokens,” and “utility tokens” instead.

There has been a marked increase in the amount of money being invested by Chinese investors into U.S. early stage biotechnology companies since 2017, spurred on by direct encouragement from Beijing through its Made in China 2025 industrial policy, which specifically targets biotech as a strategic industry eligible for greater government backing.

John Rotchford, founder of SASI, a boutique investment banking firm, discusses how to prepare your company for sale, how buyers will value your business, and how to achieve a favorable and timely outcome.