Startups and Venture Capital

Startups &
Venture Capital

Our experienced team provides strategic, practical legal and business advice to help entrepreneurs survive the realities of startup environments. For investors, our team offers complete lifecycle guidance and access to the most active venture capital markets worldwide.

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Startups & Venture Capital

Navigating Legal Waters for Investors and Entrepreneurs

Godfrey & Kahn helps startups and venture capital investors in Wisconsin with efficient, sophisticated, and experienced legal services and access to critical professional resources.

Our clients benefit from our connections with entrepreneurs across the Midwest and our ability to draw on the experience of Godfrey & Kahn attorneys in various specialty areas across our offices.

Launching Your Startup with Confidence

We provide practical legal and business advice to startups and emerging growth companies at every stage of their business. Our dedicated team of startup and venture capital (SVC) lawyers utilize cutting-edge knowledge, tools, and insights to meet the realities of an ever-changing startup landscape.

Our attorneys use a collaborative approach to help grow our clients from formation to Fortune 500 or exit. We advise our clients in vital areas such as:

Entity selection and formation
Corporate governance
Debt and equity financing
Intellectual property filing, protection, and licensing
Equity compensation, employee benefits, and bonus arrangements
Employment issues and visas
Debt and equity financing
Data privacy and cybersecurity

Regulatory compliance
Securities law compliance
Tax reduction techniques and tax credits for new ventures
Commercial contracts with suppliers, customers, and other business partners
Agreements with accelerators and advisors
Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE), Qualified New Business Venture (QNBV), and similar certifications

Fuel for Growth

Our SVC attorneys have significant experience in advising individual angel investors, angel groups, family offices, venture capital funds, and corporate venture capital investors in a wide range of investment activities.

Godfrey & Kahn advises investors in many key areas:

Fund formation and maintenance
Equity, debt, and convertible instruments
Leading transactions or making co-investments
Financing structures (angel, seed and later stage rounds, loans, mezzanine debt, PIPE transactions)
Securities law compliance

U.S. and international tax and regulatory compliance (foreign investors, pension funds, bank affiliates, and other regulated investors)
Conducting due diligence on target companies
Reviewing hedge fund and venture capital investment documents and negotiating side letters
Incentive structures for fund advisors
Best practices for corporate governance and investment monitoring

Project Innovate

Join us at Project Innovate!

Godfrey & Kahn provides far more than just legal services.

We offer all entrepreneurs the opportunity to network and deepen their entrepreneurial knowledge at our Project Innovate events.

These meetups cover a wide range of topics designed to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and connect to other resources. Our clients also have access to a vast network of business resources as their businesses launch and grow, including angel and venture capital investors, investment bankers, accountants, and consultants.

We look forward to helping you form, fund, and grow your business.

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Our attorneys write on a variety of topics and provide engaging educational opportunities through free webinars and seminars enabling you to stay up-to-date with the most current developments, trends, and legal issues affecting your business.

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