Alex advises innovators and high-growth companies on the intersection of law and business, with an emphasis on entrepreneurship, tech transactions, IP licensing, and negotiation. He is a lifecycle lawyer with a career of experience counseling biotech, high tech, and other ambitious companies from formation through exit, handling venture financings of all stages and levels of complexity, in addition to negotiating or advising on hundreds of technology, IP and commercial contract matters every year. Alex has been nationally ranked in Chambers USA for Start Ups and Emerging Companies every year since 2022; he is nationally ranked in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for his technology law expertise, and he has also earned distinction as a Superlawyers Rising Star and a Boston Magazine Top Lawyer. He is a Lawyer in Residence at Harvard Business School and has taught venture capital law at Boston University School of Law. Alex is a regular speaker at client trainings on everything from raising seed capital to negotiating company-defining collaboration agreements.
Alex is particularly focused on using interest-based negotiation to help his clients maximize the value of their opportunities, having taught negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, and various executive education programs through Harvard’s Program on Negotiation.
Experience
Examples of recent commercial and licensing transactions include:
- $135m collaboration agreement for a clinical stage asset on behalf of a growing biotech company
- ~$500m, 25 year deal for robotics and logistics company opposite major grocery distributor
- $11m ARPA-H subcontract arrangement on behalf of a biotech company opposite a top university medical school
- $100m+ exclusive licensing deal opposite a major media company
- $40m sponsorship deal on behalf of a sportswear brand opposite a professional sports league
- $250m+ long-term cross-border supply and services agreement in wafer technology
- Long-term strategic partnership and integration agreement for a loan trading platform opposite a large bank
- Software development and SAAS integration deal for AI-assisted tools opposite Fortune 50 retailer
- Out-license of platform technologies and patent families out of MIT and Harvard
- Grant agreement and long-term IP-related partnership between a venture fund and a large research institution
- Company-critical 3PL deal on behalf of an ecommerce-based retailer
- Strategic partnership and exclusive distribution agreement on behalf of a water filtration technology company
- Development and distribution agreement for a smart-home technology provider opposite a major solar integrator
Examples of recent financing transactions include:
- $14m Series A financing for a land regeneration startup, including side-by-side $40m commercial development deal with lead investor
- SAFE and side letter financings for multiple startups opposite incubator programs from top venture firms
- $30m Series B financing for SAAS company, including 30+ transaction secondary sale alongside
- $20m Series A financing for digital health company including strategic investors
- $22m convertible debt deal for a gene editing company opposite a Singaporean government entity among other investors
- $35m Series A financing for health care technology company, including secondary sale alongside
- $12m Series Seed financing for synthetic biology MIT spinout
- $7m Series A financing for gut biome medical device MIT spinout
viewpoints
Early- and Growth-Stage Companies in Distress: What Directors Need to Know about their Fiduciary Duties
October 8, 2024 | Blog | By Alex Civetta, Tim McKeon
Most high-growth companies find themselves in a race against the clock, trying to use whatever capital they may have to achieve milestones prior to hitting their cash-out date. When markets are tight, as they have been over the past several months, founders and boards confront the reality of a liquidity crisis on a nearly daily basis in their scenario planning. It can come in the form of a potential buyer or investor deciding to walk away from a deal, a current investor experiencing its own liquidity crunch, or unfavorable data coming at an unfavorable time. Whatever the cause, when a company approaches insolvency, it is often an existential event, forcing the board of directors to think carefully about how to help the company make decisions in view of the board’s changing fiduciary duties, as well as how those duties may be impacted by a company’s declining cash position.
Energy & Sustainability Client Feature — Cultivo
March 1, 2024 | Article | By Alex Civetta
Read about Cultivo, a public benefit corporation, and its recent $14 million in Series A funding to be used to advance the development of Cultivo’s AI-driven platform for large-scale nature regeneration projects.
Six Common Contract Traps: A Field Guide
March 25, 2022 | Advisory | By Alex Civetta
Read our guide to common contract traps emerging technology companies can face when negotiating contracts with large customers that have a master services agreement, including disadvantageous terms and the omission of clauses that protect vendors.
Enforcing Click-Through and URL Terms
March 30, 2021 | Advisory | By Alex Civetta, Kati P. Strzelczyk
The Beauty and the Terror of Agile Software Development
March 24, 2021 | Advisory | By Alex Civetta, Garrett Galvin
News & Press
Mintz Announces New Members
December 20, 2024
Mintz announces the election of eight attorneys to Members, effective January 1, 2025. The newly promoted Members join the ranks of the firm’s growing membership, including six new lateral Members who joined the firm in 2024.
23 Mintz Attorneys Named to Boston Magazine’s “Top Lawyers” List
November 22, 2024
23 Mintz attorneys have been named to Boston Magazine’s 2024 “Top Lawyers” list.
Mintz is pleased to announce that 31 attorneys have been named Massachusetts Super Lawyers and 35 attorneys have been named Massachusetts Rising Stars for 2024.
Mintz Advises Voldex on Partnership with NFL
September 12, 2024
Mintz advised Voldex, a leading game developer, on a licensing agreement with the NFL for NFL Universe Football, Voldex’s football experience formerly known as Ultimate Football.
The Best Lawyers in America 2025 Recognizes 184 Mintz Attorneys across 56 Practice Areas
August 15, 2024
187 Mintz attorneys have been recognized by Best Lawyers® in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Notably, three Mintz attorneys received 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” awards, and 64 firm attorneys were included in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.
Mintz announced today that 42 of its practices and 83 of its attorneys earned recognition in the 2024 edition of Chambers USA, a guide to the country’s leading law firms. Of those included in the guide, 18 attorneys and seven practice areas were awarded Chambers’ highest ranking, Band 1. The firm obtained new listings in three practice areas and 10 of its lawyers were recognized for the first time.
Mintz Advises Cultivo in $14M Series A Funding
January 31, 2024
A Mintz team led by Tom Burton and Alex Civetta advised Cultivo Land PBC on its recent $14 million Series A funding round, bringing the company to over $20 million. This investment will be used to advance the growth of Cultivo’s AI platform for large scale nature regeneration projects, specifically focused on carbon removal, biodiversity enhancement, and improved water storage.
Twenty-Five Mintz Attorneys Named To Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers List
November 21, 2023
BOSTON – Twenty-five Mintz attorneys have been named to Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers list.
Fifty-Nine Attorneys Recognized as 2023 Massachusetts Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
October 12, 2023
Mintz is pleased to announce that 32 attorneys have been named Massachusetts Super Lawyers and 27 attorneys have been named Massachusetts Rising Stars for 2023.
Mintz is pleased to announce that 120 firm attorneys have been recognized as leaders by Best Lawyers® in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.
Mintz and ML Strategies Receive Environmental Business Council Award For Outstanding Collaboration
June 08, 2023
BOSTON - Mintz and ML Strategies were recognized with the prestigious Nicholas Humber Award for Outstanding Collaboration by the Environmental Business Council of New England (EBC) at the 30th Annual EBEE Awards in Boston.
BOSTON –Mintz announced today that 39 of its practices and 81 of its attorneys earned recognition in the 2023 edition of Chambers USA, a guide to the country’s leading law firms.
Twenty-Eight Mintz Attorneys Named To Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers List
November 22, 2022
In its second annual edition, 28 Mintz attorneys were named to Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers list.
Mintz took lead role for long-term client NanoView Biosciences in its sale to Unchained Labs, a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group. NanoView, through its ExoView technology, characterizes exosomes and the company’s LentiView platform complements Unchained Labs’ tools for gene therapy researchers working with lentivirus, which is an immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.
Events & Speaking
How Innovation Ecosystems Change the Game: The Role of IP, Academic Institutions, and Startup Companies
Navigating ROADMAP 2024
Negotiating Strategic Partnerships
Harvard Business School Rock Center for Entrepreneurship
Recognition & Awards
Chambers USA: Start Ups and Emerging Companies (2022-2024)
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch - Technology Law (2024)
Boston Magazine Top Lawyers – Corporate Law (2021-2024)
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Pro Bono Honor Roll (2021)
Massachusetts Super Lawyers: Technology Transactions (2023 - 2024)
Recent Insights
Mintz announces the election of eight attorneys to Members, effective January 1, 2025. The newly promoted Members join the ranks of the firm’s growing membership, including six new lateral Members who joined the firm in 2024.
23 Mintz attorneys have been named to Boston Magazine’s 2024 “Top Lawyers” list.
